GIFT   OF 

MICHAEL  REESE 

>.**' 


MURAT  HAI^TEAD 


^THE  STORY  OF  CUBA 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY 

THE  CAUSE,  CRISIS  AND  DESTINY  OF  THE 

PEARL  OF  THE  ANTILLES 


BY 

MURAT  HALSTEAD 


GRAPHICALLY  ILLUSTRATED  WITH  NUMEROUS  TYPICAL  PHOTOGRAPHIC 
REPRODUCTIONS  AND  ORIGINAL  DRAWINGS 


CHICAGO 
CUBAN  LIBRE  PUBLISHING  CO. 


f'77 


(^51)  If 

Copyright,  1896, 

BY 

THE  WERNER  COMPANY. 


THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 


The  first  words  that  invite  the  eye  in  a  book  are  the 
last  written.  When  the  preface  is  prepared  the  work 
is  finished.  This  volume  is  up-to-date,  but  the  story  of 
Cuba  is  not  all  told.  The  tragedy  goes  on.  The  tri- 
umph is  to  come.  The  logic  of  all  history  contemplates 
the  conclusion  we  confidently  declare.  It  is,  that  the 
end  of  foreign  domination  over  the  discoveries  of 
Columbus  and  his  followers,  draws  near.  Cuba  is  the 
splendid  stage  on  which  is  performed  the  last  act  of  the 
drama  of  Spain  in  America.  It  is  Spain's  war  with  her 
children.  All  nations  are  spectators — our  own  with  the 
greater  share  of  interest  and  sympathy.  It  is  as  the 
first  President  Harrison  wrote  of  our  revolution — "  hard, 
hard  indeed,  is  the  struggle  for  liberty  and  the  contest 
for  independence !  "  There  is  to  the  student  of  the 
Cuban  story,  a  series  of  surprises  in  the  revelation  of 
the  immensity  of  the  Island,  the  riches  of  her  resources, 
the  certainty  of  her  rights  and  the  cruelty  of  her 
wrongs,  the  marvelous  position  she  holds  in  the  trop- 
ical seas  ;  and  there  comes,  with  the  enchantment  of  her 
"  fatal  gift  of  beauty,"  beyond  the  endowment  of  Italy, 
the  conviction  that  the  people  who  should  inherit  this 
land,    are   honorably  and   bravely  represented   in    the 

5    ^ 


6  THE  AUTHOR'S  PREFACE. 

rebellion,  and  that  the  righteousness  that  exalts  a  na- 
tion is  in  their  cause  of  liberty. 

There  are  hundreds  of  books  about  Cuba.  Many  are 
meritorious.  We  have  gathered  from  those  that  are 
authorities,  or  that  excel  in  the  picturesque,  and  care- 
fully credited,  characteristic  passages,  that  confirm  or 
illustrate  ;  but  above  all  other  writings,  in  whatever 
form  given,  acknowledgments  of  obligations  are  due  to 
the  newspapers — the  New  York  Journal,  Herald, 
World,  Sun,  and  Mail  and  Express,  whose  correspond- 
ents, adventurous  and  courageous,  are  the  able  and  the 
only  historians  of  the  war.  The  author  remembers  them 
as  comrades  in  difficult  good  works,  and  with  pride  in 
the  association,  inscribes  to  them  this  sorrowful  story,  of 
the  fairest  of  islands  that  shall  grow  lovelier  yet  in  lib- 
erty. They  have  honored  the  press  and  served  the 
country. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  Story  of  Cuba  is  a  tragedy.  The  beautiful  island, 
when  found  by  civilized  man,  was  peopled  by  a  gentle 
race,  kindly,  innocent,  indolent,  loving  ;  living  on  fish 
and  fruit,  corn  and  sweet  potatoes,  under  the  shade  of 
royal  palms,  in  orchards  of  pineapples  and  oranges  ; 
the  very  wilderness  brilliant  with  flowers,  and  birds  of 
glittering  plumage  ;  the  guileless  tribes  happy  and  harm- 
less as  if  they  were  chosen  children  of  God,  dwelling 
apart  in  Paradise. 

These  dainty  savages  were  seized  and  held,  and  per- 
ished in  servitude  to  the  fierce,  remorseless  adventurers, 
who,  in  the  passion  of  empire  and  greed  for  gold,  were 
insensible  to  the  considerations  of  humanity  and  the 
charity  of  Christianity,  and  into  the  bitter  gloom  of 
whose  selfishness  there  entered  no  soft  sentiment  of 
mercy  and  no  ray  of  the  enlightenment  of  good  will  to 
men  or  of  the  generosities  of  statesmanship. 

Then  followed  African  slavery  as  a  benevolent  miti- 
gation of  the  barbarism  that  consumed  the  poor  Indians 
in  their  tenderness  and  timidity  ;  and  it  is  a  Cuban  tra- 
dition that  the  sharks  that  now  swarm  on  the  shores  of 
the  Island  were  introduced  by  following  the  slave  ships 
from  the  waters  of  Africa  to  devour  the  victims  that, 
overcome  by  the  torments  of  the  terrible  voyages,  were 
flung  into  the  sea. 

For  a  century  Cuba  was  the  base  of  operations  of  the 

7 


INTROD  UCTTON. 


expedition  of  the  conquering  Spaniards  in  tropical  Amer- 
ica, and  for  another  century  the  fleets,  with  the  spoils 
of  the  conquest  of  the  West,  sailed  from  her  harbors, 
and  then,  for  a  century,  the  West  Indies  became  the 
scene  of  a  tremendous  contest  for  naval  supremacy  by 
England,  France  and  Spain.  After  England  won  the 
mastery  of  the  ocean,  Napoleon,  losing  the  sea  power 
at  Trafalgar,  attempted  to  coerce  all  continental  Europe 
into  his  schemes  of  aggrandizement,  and  Spain,  resisting 
his  pretensions,  was  crushed  for  a  time  by  his  imperial 
genius,  but  closed  with  him  in  a  war  to  the  knife,  that 
endured  until  the  conqueror  was  conquered  ;  but  not 
until  after  parcelling  out  his  American  possessions, 
and  then  the  crumbling  of  Spanish  dominion  in  the 
New  World  began. 

Before  our  revolutionary  war — it  was  in  1 762 — Ha- 
vana was  besieged  and  captured  by  the  English,  and 
the  episode  of  their  occupation  of  her  harbor,  and  open- 
ing it  to  commerce,  stimulated  the  Cubans  to  marine 
enterprise  ;  but  though  they  had  been  long  faithful,  and 
began  to  prosper  after  the  fall  of  the  French  empire, 
and  had  a  right  to  share  the  progress  and  dignity  of 
Spain,  to  which  they  were  loyal  in  affection  through  her 
misfortunes,  they  were  swiftly  reminded  of  colonial 
disabilities  ;  and  then  came  the  conflicts  that  are  cul- 
minating in  the  condition  of  the  Island,  the  richest  that 
the  seas  encircle,  where  the  Spaniards  and  their  children 
are  carrying  on  a  war  of  desolation  that  is  ruining  both. 

The  higher  class  of  the  public  men  of  our  country 
have  always  been  interested  in  Cuba,  and  she  has  had 
a  charm  for  our  people  in  proportion  to  the  elevation 
of  their  intelligence.  The  logic  of  Spanish  history  is 
the  loss  of  Cuba.     The  same  causes   that  cost  Spain, 


INTROD  UCTION.  g 

Mexico,  and  Peru,  and  Chili,  and  Bolivia,  Central  Amer- 
ica, Venezuela,  and  the  rest,  mean  also  that  the  long 
struggle  of  the  Cubans  for  liberty  will  close  in  triumph. 
With  Cuba's  destiny  in  the  hands  of  her  own  people,' 
she  will  obey  the  irresistible  attraction  of  our  Union  to 
be  one  of  the  United  States. 

With  the  advantages  of  recent  personal  observation 
of  the  situation  in  Cuba,  receiving  polite  attentions  and 
extensive  information  from  the  Spanish  authorities,  and 
enjoying  the  confidence  of  Cubans,  and  the  candid  ex- 
pression of  their  interpretation  of  events,  it  is  with  a 
sense  of  duty  to  the  veracity  of  history,  that  I  propose 
to  recite  with  sincerity  the  Cuban  story  of  four  hundred 
years. 

MURAT  HaLSTEAD. 


/         ^  OF  THE  ■'^ 

nJH-IVERSITY 


CONTENTS. 


PAGBS 

Introduction 7 


CHAPTER   I. 

FIRST   EVENTS   AND   EARLY   INFLUENCES. 

The  Discovery — Columbus  Enchanted — His  Dreams — Beauty  of  Earth, 
Ocean  and  Sky — The  Gentle  Natives  Smoke  Cigarettes — Some  Slow 
Centuries — The  British  Conquest — Dawn  of  Revolution  in  the  Ever 
Faithful  Island — The  Slavery  Embarrassment — Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Charles  Sumner — A  Despotic  Political  Economy 23-31 

CHAPTER   II. 

EUROPE   AND   AMERICA   AND   THE   INDIES.  \^ 

British  Conquest  of  Cuba — American  Revolution  and  Cuban  I»reurrections 
— Americans  Interested  in  Cuban  Affairs — The  Lopez  and  Virginius 
Massacres — Terrible  Scenes  of  Bloodshed — Cuban  Martyr's  Letter  to 
his  Wife 32-54 

CHAPTER    III. 

ORIGIN   AND    CONDUCT   OF   CUBAN    W^ARS. 

Spanish  Passion  for  Cuba — Growth  of  Cuban  War  Spirit — The  Ten  Years' 
War  Compared  with  the  Present — Gomez  and  Campos  in  Both — Ta- 
con's  Tyranny — Slavery  Abolished  —  "Book  of  Blood" — Edinburg 
Review  on  War  of  '68-' 78 55-69 

CHAPTER    IV. 

SPANISH    STORY    OF    THE    TREATY    OF    ZANJON. 

Was  the  Famous  Compact  that  Closed  the  Ten  Years'  War  Fairly  Drawn 
and  Honorably  Executed,  or  a  sham,  with  Nothing  for  Cuba  in  it? — 
— The  Side  of  Spain  Set  Forth  on  the  Highest  Authority,  with  Cita- 
tions of  the  Reform  Laws  and  the  Liberal  Autonomist  Circular 70-87 

II 


1 2  CONTENTS. 

/ 


Kt 


CHAPTER   V.  V 

THE   SPANISH    WAR    POLICY. 


^  The  Way  the  Present  War  Opened,  and  How  it  Progressed — Personal 
Characteristics  of  Prominent  Figures — Campos,  Weyler,  Gomez,  the 
Maceos  and  Garcia — The  War  Shifted  to  the  West  End — The  Prize  of 
the  Victor  Praised  in  Prose  and   Poetry 88-101  ^ 


CHAPTER   VI. 

CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    PRESENT    CUBAN    WAR. 

The  Press  of  Cuba — Its  Limitations — An  Assault  on  American  Senators 
— The  Comic  Style  of  Abusing  Uncle  Sam — Interview  with  Captain- 
General  Marin — His  View  of  the  Zanjon  Reforms  and  Rebel  Ingrati- 
tude— Refers  to  the  Ten  Years'  War  and  to  the  Robbers — The  Retir- 
ing Captain-General  does  not  get  a  Hearing  in  Havana 102-109 

CHAPTER   VII. 

LEADING    QUESTIONS    OF    RACES    AND    CRIMES. 

The  Blacks  as  Soldiers  and  in  Caricature — Preoccupation  on  Both  Sides  in 
Cuba  with  the  United  States — Habits  of  Exaggeration — Governor- 
General  Weyler  Interviewed,  and  Defends  his  Policy — Too  Much 
Attention  to  Wild  Stories — Brutalities  of  Bandits — The  Machete  the 
Sword  of  Cuba 110-122 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    ORDERS   AND    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WEYLER. 

A  Vigorous  and  Comprehensive  Series  of  Orders,  Declarations,  Decrees 
and  Commands,  and  Promises  of  Restoration  of  Order  in  these  Prov- 
inces on  the  15th  of  March — The  Difference  Between  the  Proclama- 
tion and  the  Performance — The  Weylgj^Administration  Signally  Fails 
— The  Daring  and  Success  of  the  Maceos — A  Hard  Blow  at  a  Sore 
Time  and  Place 123-137 

CHAPTER    IX.' 

THE  FORCES  NOW  ENGAGED  IN  CUBA. 

The  Conduct  of  the  War — Spanish  Force  Almost  200,000  Armed  Men — 
65,000  Cubans  in  Arms,  but  Poorly  Armed — Cavalry  a  Most  Impor- 
tant Factor — Sanitary  Regulations  Lessen  Spanish  Loss  by  Sickness 
— Opinions  of  Experts — Suggestions  of  Strategy — Statistics  of  the 
Population  of  Combatants — Women  in  the  Army  for  Protection 138-147 


CONTENTS.  1 3 


y 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   CUBAN   GOVERNMENT. 

PAGBS 

Cubitas  the  Capital — A  Letter  fronljhe  President — Proclamation  and  Let- 
ter from  Gomez,  the  Hero  of  the  War,  and  a  Letter  from  Maceo I48-157 

CHAPTsfe   XL  j^ 

THE    PI.AY    OF    PRESIDENT    PIERCE    FOR    CUBA.  ^ 

American  Interest  in  Cuba,  and  English  Jealousy — The  Famous  Confer- 
ence at  Ostend  in  1854,  between  Bijchanan,  Mason  and  Soule,  the 
Ministers  to  England,  France  and  Spain — Mr.  Marcy's  Warlike  Letters 
and  Soule' s  Courtly  Ways — Cuba  we  ijauaLhave,  in  Peacejf  Possible, 
by  War  if  Necessary,  was  the  Policy  of  Pierce — The  Famous  Mani- 
festo by  Three  Ministers — A  Record  of  the  Past  Applicable  to  the 
Present — Buchanan's  Nomination  for  the   Presidency 158-180 


CHAPTER   Xn. 

ENGLISH    FAILURE    IN    THE   WEST   INDIES. 

The  Testimony  of  the  Eminent  Historian,  James  Anthony  Froude — The 
Mismanagement  of  the  English  Islands  by  Free  Trade  Orators — Negro 
Predominance — The  Spanish  Islands  are  Peopled  with  the  Children 
of  Spaniards — Black  Labor  and  Beet  Sugar — Cuba  and  the  United 
States,  as  an  Englishman  puts  the  Questions  of  Destiny 181-191 

CHAPTER  XIIL 

THE    CITY    OF    HAVANA. 

Life  in  the  Capital  of  Cuba  during  the  War  Time — Hotel  Apartments  and 
Furniture — Breakfasts — Barber  Shops — Bar  Rooms — Narrow  Streets 
— The  Double  Standard — The  Water  Jug — A  Hot  Weather  Town — A 
Tender-Necked  People^The  Casino  and  the  Castle  and  the  Royal 
Palms  in  the  Garden 192-214 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE    BRITISH    AND    PROVINCIAL    CONQUEST    OF    CUBA. 

How  the  Island  was  Invaded,  and  Havaria_Captured,  After  a  Bloody  and 
Deadly  Siege,  in  the  Summer  of  1762,  by  the  British  Under  Lord  Albe- 
marle, Helped  Just  in  Time  by  a  Force  of  2,300  Men  from  Connecti- 
cut, New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  Under  General  Lyman  and  Colonel 
Israel  Putnam,  and  then  Returned  to  the  Spaniards — Frightful  Losses 
of  the  Invaders — Havana  Looted,  and  a  Prize  Money  Scandal — The 


14  CONTENTS. 


Greed  of  the  British  Officers — Did  the  Provincial  Troops  Establish 
a  Preemption  Right  to  the  Island  ? — Colonial  and  English  Sympa- 
thy— Washington's  Brother  in  the  British  Service  in  the  West  Indies 
— A  Connecticut  Chaplain's  Journal  of  the  Plague  at  Havana — Sad 
Fate  of  General  Lyman 215-252 


CHAPTER    XV. 

EARLY  INCIDENTS  OF  THE  PRESENT  WAR. 

The  Ibarra  Band  the  First  Organized — Coloma  and  his  Fianc6,  being 
Captured,  are  Married  in  Moro  Castle — Efforts  Made  for  Peace,  but 
the  Disturbance  Spread  Rapidly — General  Campos,  President  Marti, 
Gomez  and  Maceo  Land  in  Cuba — Marti's  Death — The  Cause  of  Guer- 
illa Warfare 253-271 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

BATTLE   OF   BAYAMO   AND    RESULTS. 

Campos'  First  Sharp  Check — Spaniards  Much  Shaken — Severe  and  Inter- 
esting Battle — General  Santocildes  Sacrifices  his  Life  to  Save  that  of 
Campos — Maceo  does  not  Permit  his  Sharpshooters  to  Pick  Off  Cam- 
pos— Maceo's  Humanity  to  the  Wounded 272-277 

CHAPTER   XVH. 

THE   MASSACRE   AT   GAUTAO. 

A  Seaside  Breakfast  and  the  Cuban  Flag — The  Road  into  the  Cuban  Re- 
public— How  the  Rebels  Foraged — The  Gulf  and  the  Sharks — The 
First  News  of  the  Massacre — The  Tale  of  a  Volunteer  who  Partici- 
pated— Eighteen  Pacificos  Killed  to  two  Soldiers — Marcy  Reports — 
Adventures  of  Correspondents — Talk  with  General  Weyler  on  the 
Subject — The  Dismal  Scene  at  the  Palace 278-290 


CHAPTER   XVHI. 

HORRORS    OF    MORO    CASTLE. 

A  Newspaper  Correspondent  Arbitrarily  Arrested — A  Night  and  Two  Days 
in  an  Ugly  Dungeon — Neglect  of  Prisoners — A  Case  of  Mistaken 
Identity — Released,  but  Apology  not  Made — The  Claim  of  Clemency, 
not  Justice,  Insisted  Ui*on— The  Exclusive  Societ»y  of  Gray  Rats  not 
Agreeable 291-300 


CONTENTS.  1 5 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   SECOND    YEAR   OF   THE    SECOND   WAR. 

PAGES 

The  Condition  of  the  Country  Approaching  the  Second  Rainy  Season  of 
the  Struggle — Why  the  War-Cry  went  forth  in  February — The  Saga- 
city of  Gomez  in  Choosing  Time  and  Place — Preparing  for  his  Re- 
markable Campaign — The  Policy  of  Destruction — Why  it  was  Adopted 
— The  Way  the  Spaniards  are  Retaliating — Cuba  Laid  Waste  by  Both 
Combatants — War,  Pestilence  and  Famine — The  Terrible  Privations 
and  Distress  of  the  People 301-31 1 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   PICTURESQUE    IN   THE   WAR. 

The  Camps  of  the  Rebels  and  the  Palace  of  the  Governor-General — How 
the  Wounded  Cubans  are  Cared  for — The  Inside  of  the  Rebellion  in 
the  Woods,  and  the  Secret  Doors  of  the  Palace — The  Cuban  Women 
in  the  War,  and  an  American  Woman  Interviews  the  Redoubtable 
Weyler,  and  he  Shows  Photographs  of  his  Family,  and  Gives  her 
Flowers 312-341 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

AN   IRREPRESSIBLE   CONFLICT   OF   TESTIMONY. 

The  Double-Entry  Historical  Bookkeeping  of  the  Battles  in  Cuba — The 
Remarkable  Characteristics  of  Discrepancy — The  Havana  and  Key 
West  Stories  Discolored  and  Distorted  Out  of  Recognition — The  Re- 
sponsibility for  Nickel  Novel  Cuban  Reports — Dynamite  and  the 
Press — The  War  in  the  West  End 342-355 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    RECORD   OF   DESOLATION   AND    DESPAIR. 

The  Torch  is  Mightier  than  the  Sword — Lists  of  the  Plantations  and  Towns 
Burned — Dramatic  Scenes  and  Thrilling  Incidents  in  the  Doomed 
Island — The  Work  of  Destruction  the  Only  Occupation — Utter  Col- 
lapse of  Business — Famine  Close  at  Hand — Inhumanity  and  the  Cu- 
ban Cry  for  Cartridges — A  New  York  Deserter — A  Business  Man  has 
One  Hope  of  Escaping  Ruin — The  Truth  of  the  Civil  Government  of 
Cuba — The  Cry  for  Cartridges 35^-392 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE   CAUSE   OF   CUBA.  ^      ^v 

Cuba  is  Governed  by  Spain  for  Spain — Cubans  are  Taxed  to  Protect 
Spain — Impolicy  Prepared  for  Revolution — Rebellion  Forced  by  Mis- 


;       /^  OF  The         ^      x. 

;  "CfNlVERSITY) 


1 6  CONTENTS. 


government — Public  Papers  as  Testimony — A  Ruler  of  Spain  Polite 

to  General  GranX,About  Cuban  Independence 393-41 ' 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE   CRISIS    IN    CUBA. 

This  War  not  a  Ten  Years'  War — The  Fighting  too  Fast  and  Furious  to 
Last — The  Crisis  Financial,  Industrial,  Social,  Military  and  Political 
— General  Lee's  Important  Functions — The  Policy  of  the  Administra- 
tion— Senator  White's  Speech — James  Creelman's  Story  of  Massacre 
— The  PQWC£^ind  Duty  of  the  United  States — The  Mutual  Hatred  of 
the  Creole  and  the  Spaniard,  and  Influence  of  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery 412-444 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   DESTINY   OF   CUBA, 

A  Personal  Word — Account  of  a  Mysterious  Missionary — Comparison  of 
Campos  and  Weyler — Spain  has  Lost  Cuba — The  Destiny  of  the  Pearl 
of  Islands  is  to  be  one  of  our  States — Gentlemen  are  Rebels — The 
Volunteers  as  Business  Men — Cubans  Worthy  to  be  our  Fellow 
Citizens 445-472 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

POINTS    OF    PICTURES. 

Sugar  Plantation  —  Tobacco  Fields  —  Royal  Palms  —  Cocoanut  Palms — 
Cuban  Vegetation — Moro  Castle  Cell — Valley  of  the  Yumuri — San- 
tiago— Royal  Family — The  Object  Lesson  of  Cuba  and  Long  Island 
Contrasted  on  the  Scale  as  to  Size — The  Spanish  Hill-top  and  Car 
Fortifications — Cuban  Pictures  too  Beautiful  to  Paint,  Except  with  a 
Poetic   Pen 473-491 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

STATISTICAL   AND   DOCUMENTARY. 

Organization  of  the  Cuban  Army,  as  Reported  by  General  Gomez — Com- 
merce of  Spain  with  her  Colonies- — The  Authentic  Figures  of  the 
Population  of  the  Island,  Showing  the  Proportion  of  Whites  and 
Colored  People — Official  Cuban  Letters  and  Proclamations 492-504 

CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

NATITRAL   RICHES   AND    NATIVE   CHARMS   OF   CUBA. 

The  Cultivation  of  Sugar  Cane — Picture  of  a  Cuban  Garden — The  South- 
ern  Cross — Cuba  as   Eden — Sugar  Making — Tobacco    Raising — The 


CONTENTS.  17 

PAGES 

Forests  and  Fruits — Beauty  of  the  Nights — Cuba  Compared  with 
New  York  —  The  Precious  Woods  —  Mountains  and  Rivers  —  Solid 
Encyclopaedical  Information — The  Cry  of  a  Poor  Man 505-531 

CHAPTER  XXIX.  *' 

THE   ANCIENT    RECORDS    OF   THE   ISLAND. 

The  Words  in  Spanish  and  Rendered  in  English  with  which  Columbus 
Reports  the  Discovery  of  Cuba — The  Words  in  which  he  Reported 
the  Smoking  of  Tobacco  by  the  Islanders — The  Account  of  the  First 
Mass  Celebrated  in  the  New  World 532-541 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

LATEST    NEWS    FROM    THE    SEAT    OF   WAR. 

Monotony  of  Military  Situations — The  Trocha  as  a  Delusion — Fighting 
General  Pando  Goes  Home — Strange  Paralysis  of  Spanish  Forces — 
How  it  Pays  to  keep  Full  Prisons — Corrupt  Sluggards — Weyler  and 
the  Front,  and  Sharp-shooters — The  Battle  of  Cacarajicara — The 
Island  becoming  a  Cinder  Path — The  Massacre  of  Horses — Battle  of 
Manzanillo — The  Fever — One  Good  Work  Going  On — American  Re- 
sponsibility  Considered 542-583 

C— 2 


■J^JIVERSITY 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Murat  Halstead Frontispiece 

Map    of   Cuba,    showing   operations  of   the    Insur- 
gents   Face  Contents 

Havana 22 

Butchery  of  the  Crew  of  the   Virginius,  Captain  Fry  Bid- 
ding His  Men  Farewell 39 

The  Virginius  •  Martyrs 47 

General  Martinez  Campos 59 

Group — De  Lome,  Castillo,  Hannis  Taylor 73 

D.   Valeriano  Weyler 89 

A.  and  J.  Maceo 97 

Charge  of  Cuban  Cavalry 119 

Sugar  Cane  Plantation 133 

Women  Cavalry 145 

General  Maximo  Gomez 155 

Queen  Regent  of  Spain  and  Children 169 

View  near  Santiago 183 

Moro    Castle 1 93 

Avenue  of  Palms,  Havana 203 

Corridor  in  the  Casino 211 

Alphonse  XHI.,  King  of  Spain 225 

A  Narrow  Street  and  Cathedral 241 

Cuban  Junta 257 

Cisneros  and  Marti 267 

Cubans  in  Ambush,  Typical  Fort,  etc 285 

Cell  in  Moro  Castle 297 

Valley  of  the  Yumuri 313 

19 


20  LIST  OF  ILL  USTRA  TIONS. 

Cubans  Fighting  from  Tree-tops 323 

Fruit  Stand  in  Havana 333 

A  Close  Encounter 351 

Spanish  Outpost   near  Remedios 361 

Landing  Arms,  etc.,  from  the  Bermuda 373 

Coffee  Plantation 397 

Cocoanut  Palm 415 

Destruction  of  a  Railway  Train  by  Dynamite 433 

Defense  of  a  Barricade  of  Sugar  Barrels 451 

Tobacco  Plantation 461 

Attack  on  a  Fortified   Railroad  Train 479 

Cuban  Attack  on  Fort  near  Vueltas 489 

President  Cisneros  and  Cabinet 507 

Templete  Chapel 533 

Calixto   Garcia 543 

Repulsing  the  Spaniards  at  Alto  Songo 561 


VERSITT 


^UFORNiCA" 


JNiv: 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA 

CHAPTER    I. 

FIRST  EVENTS  AND  EARLY   INFLUENCES. 

The  Discovery — Columbus  Enchanted — His  Dreams — Beauty  of  Earth, 
Ocean  and  Sky — The  Gentle  Natives  Smoke  Cigarettes— Some  Slow 
Centuries — The  British  Conquest — Dawn  of  Revolution  in  the  Ever 
Faithful  Island — The  Slavery  Embarrassment — Thomas  Jefferson 
and  Charles  Sumner — A  Despotic  Political  Economy. 

When  Christopher  Columbus  found  Cuba  he  was  in 
the  midst  of  his  wonderful  dream  of  the  Indies,  and 
all  the  world  had  for  him  become  enchanted.  He  sailed 
on  his  immortal  voyage,  believing-  that  he  would  find 
the  beautiful  country  of  which  he  had  read  in  the  story 
of  Marco  Polo,  and  as  he  sailed  from  island  to  island, 
finding  each  new  discovery  more  romantic  than  the 
last,  he  interpreted  all  the  incidents  to  confirm  his  belief 
that  he  was  nearing  Cipango,  and  would  very  soon 
have  the  opportunity  of  delivering  the  letters,  with  which 
he  was  equipped  from  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  to  the 
Great  Khan.  He  and  his  followers  asked  the  simple 
natives,  whether  meeting  them  in  their  canoes  or  under 
their  fruit-trees,  for  gold,  and  thought  the  responses 
meant  that  a  great  country  was  close  at  hand,  and  that 
could  be  none  other  than  the  mysterious  land  of  whose 
fabulous  riches  the  most  famous  of  wanderers,  who  had 
traveled  furthest  East,  had  told. 

The  Island  that  he  called  Isabella,  for  the  beloved 

sovereign  of  Castile,  his  benign  patroness,  proved  espe- 

33 


24  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

cially  captivating  to  the  great  navigator,  and  he  wrote 
of  it:  "Everything  is  green  as  April  in  Andalusia. 
The  singing  of  the  birds  is  such  that  it  seems  as  if  one 
would  never  desire  to  depart.  There  are  flocks  of  par- 
rots that  obscure  the  sun.  There  are  trees  of  a  thou- 
sand species,  each  having  its  particular  fruit,  and  all  of 
marvelous  flavor." 

Inspired  by  his  eastern  romance,  he  detected  in  the 
air  "  spicy  odors,"  and  enjoyed  a  fragrance  from  the 
blossoming  groves,  that  he  said  "  was  the  sweetest 
thing  in  the  world,"  and  there  were  many  precious  trees 
of  which  he  knew  nothing,  but  that  they  would  be  of 
great  price  in  Spain  ;  and  that  was  so,  bothof  the  wood 
and  of  the  fruit.  The  great  land,  a  little  way  over  the 
exquisite  waters,  of  which  he  heard  continually,  was 
Cuba,  and  when  at  last  he  saw  it  on  the  morning  of 
the  28th  of  October,  1492,  he  was  not  surprised,  but  his 
soul  was  sailing  along  the  shores  of  Japan,  half  around 
the  world  away. 

He  vvas  in  the  midst  of  the  season  of  rains  in  the  Indies 
he  was  discovering,  and  in  the  very  month  destined  to 
celebrity  for  awful  hurricanes  in  that  region,  but  the 
ocean  was  as  silk  under  his  adventurous  prow,  the  water 
was  almost  transparent  as  the  air,  and  places  of  anchor- 
age were  chosen  by  the  appearance  of  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  At  first  view  the  Cuban  mountains  reminded 
the  discoverer  of  those  of  Sicily,  so  lofty  were  they  in 
the  crystal  sky.  He  sighted  land  near  Neuvitas  del  Prin- 
cipe, and  thought  he  found  "  noble  and  profound  rivers," 
whose  shores  were  overhung  with  blooming  trees,  and 
he  was  struck  by  the  extraordinary  wealth  of  color  of 
the  flowers,  and  the  majesty  of  the  royal  palms.  He 
called  the  Island  Juana,  for  Prince  Juan,  and  then,  when 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.         SiTY         ^5 

Ferdinand  died,  the  name  was  changed  to  Fernandina, 
and  then  Santiago,  and  then  for  the  Holy  Virgin  ;  but 
the  old  Indian  name,,  Cuba,  conquered  all  competition, 
and  has  asserted  itself  triumphantly  for  four  hundred 
years  ;  typically,  we  may  trust,  after  the  sorrowful  cen- 
turies of  its  final  American  destiny. 

As  Columbus  sailed  along  the  splendid  shores,  he  fan- 
cied he  was  about  to  find  the  city  where  the  Great  Khan 
dwelt,  and  sent  expeditions  of  inquiry,  and  as  they 
sought  the  kingdom  of  the  far  East,  they  were  particu- 
larly anxious  for  gold — a  few  ornaments  made  of  that 
metal  appealing  to  the  imagination.  The  messengers 
hunting  the  Khan — who  was  only  13,000  miles  away — 
made  a  great  discovery,  that  of  the  Indians  smoking 
tobacco,  nearly  in  the  form  that  is  the  favorite  indulgence 
of  the  Cubans  to  this  day — the  cigarette. 

The  exaltation  of  mind  of  the  Discoverer  influenced 
every  scrap  of  his  writings.  The  wings  of  his  fancy 
were  broad  and  free  as  he  followed  his  false  clue.  The 
realities  around  him  surpassed  the  creations  of  fancy, 
and  there  was  an  ineffable  harvest  of  glory,  but  it  did 
not  enter  into  his  visions  that  he  had  found  a  hemis- 
phere. The  nature  of  the  people  of  this  marvelous  land, 
dwelling  in  houses  built  of  palms,  and  living  on  a  bill 
of  fare  of  fruits  afforded  nowhere  else,  seemed  to  the 
great  Genoese,  whose  romances  compete  with  his  his- 
tory in  their  benignity,  to  be  admirable  material  to  be- 
come children  of  the  Church,  and  he  beheld  in  the 
riches  unfolded  before  his  eyes  the  resources  that  should 
enable  him  to  snatch  the  Holy  Sepulchre  from  the  grasp 
of  the  infidel. 

The  first  idea  impressed  upon  Columbus  by  Cuba  was, 
that  it  was  indeed  an  island,  and  then  his  conviction 


26  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA, 

was  formed,  and  never  departed  from  him,  that  it  was 
a  continent,  and  it  was  not  circumnavigated  until  1508, 
when  it  was  ascertained  to  be  almost  the  same  size  as 
England.  His  point  of  first  contact  was  on  the  north 
shore  of  the  second  province,  as  the  Island  is  now  or- 
ganized from  the  east  end.  His  westward  voyages  did 
not  reach  the  extremity  of  the  land  in  that  direction. 
He  rounded  the  eastern  point,  .encountered  the  high 
land  of  Hayti,  and,  fascinated  by  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
touched  in  a  later  voyage  the  South  American  coast. 

He  knew  not  what  he  had  done,  but  had  scanned  the 
northern  coast  of  the  southern  continent,  and  Cuba  re- 
mained the  most  superb  land  he  personally  found  in  the 
New  World  he  gave  Spain  ;  and  it  is  more  deeply  iden- 
tified with  his  memory  than  anything  else  he  revealed 
to  mankind,  and  richer  than  Cipango  itself,  as  the  trop- 
ics are  richer  than  the  temperate  zones. 

The  first  three  centuries  of  Cuban  history  did  not,  in 
a  marked  degree,  develop  the  elements  of  discord  be- 
tween Spain  and  her  richest  colony,  that  in  the  latter 
Jialf  of  her  fourth  century  have  proven  so  irrepressible 
and  disastrous.  The  story  of  the  Island  for  the  earlier 
centuries  would  have  been  tedious  had  it  not  been  for 
the  incidents  of  external  contention  by  which  she  was 
interested  and  influenced. 

A  volume  appeared  in  New  York,  in  1850,  that  is 
regarded  by  the  Cuban  revolutionists  as  correctly  defin- 
ing their  cause  as  it  was  at  that  time  ;  and  the  argument 
of  this  work,  "  Cuba  and  the  Cubans,"  was  that  the 
Island  had  been  under  martial  law  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century;  the  captain  -  general  having  been,  in  1825, 
invested  "  with  the  whole  extent  of  power  granted  to 
the  Governors  of  besieged  towns."     This  has  been  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  2/ 

state  of  the  Island  for  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  it  is  the  phrase  of  felicitation  among  the 
insurgents  that  now  after  one  year's  war  they  "  besiege 
all  the  towns  " — that  is  by  land — the  Spaniards  holding 
only  the  soil  of  the  country  they  cover  with  troops,  and 
the  cities  commanded  by  their  fleets.  It  is  the  Cuban 
boast,  therefore,  that  they  have  "  limited  "  the  territory 
of  the  operation  of  martial  law. 

In  the  stories  of  Cuba  after  her  first  three  hundred 
years,  the  importance  of  the  United  States,  the  great 
power  close  at  hand,  is  continually  manifest.  This  pas- 
sage, from  "Cuba  and  the  Cubans,"  page  5 2,  is  an  example: 

During  the  second  period  of  democratic,  or  what  was  called  constitu- 
tional government,  which  commenced  in  1820,  the  Masonic  societies 
came  into  vogue  as  they  did  in  the  mother  country.  They  adopted  dif- 
ferent plausible  pretexts — though  to  speak  the  truth,  they  were  little  more 
than  clubs  for  amusement  and  revelry.  One  of  them,  called  the  "  Soles 
de  Bolivar,"  went  so  far  as  to  discuss  whether,  in  case  of  a  Columbian 
invasion,  it  would  be  more  expedient  to  avoid  a  collision  in  the  presence 
of  the  slaves,  by  giving  way  peaceably  before  the  invading  army.  Hap- 
pily for  Cuba,  and  certainly  in  consequence  of  the  judicious  interference 
of  the  United  States,  which  foresaw  in  the  preservation  of  its  tranquility 
the  advantages  of  a  fruitful  commerce,  the  invasion  did  not  take  place. 
And  if  the  Island  has  since  had  to  lament  the  gradual  encroachments  of 
the  executive,  in  all  the  several  branches  of  its  politics  and  administra- 
tion, it  has  also  been  preserved  from  the  sanguinary  results  which  the 
premature  establishment  of  ultra  free  institutions  has  produced  in  all  the 
numerous  countries  which  once  formed  the  dominion  of  Spain  in  America. 
For  the  difficulty  of  annexation,  from  the  lesser  influence  the  United 
States  then  possessed  among  nations,  and  the  controlling  importance  of 
the  shipping  interest  in  that  country. 

The  trouble  here,  as  it  is  plain  to  see,  was  slavery 
and  the  natural  opposition  of  the  slave  holders  to  "  the 
premature  establishment  of  ultra  free  institutions." 
However,  the  book  we  quote  undertook  to  show  that  the 


28  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

freedom  of  Cuba  would  certainly  come  speedily,  and  in 
that  made  a  miscalculation  of  at  least  forty-five  years. 

The  question  of  the  annexation  of  Cuba  to  the  United 
States  was  subordinated  on  both  sides — until  the  abolish- 
ment of  slavery  by  the  ten  years'  war,  closing  in  1878 — 
to  the  consideration  of  the  slave  questions,  and  but  for 
this  Cuba  would  have  escaped  from  Spain  without  aid 
long  ago. 

Senator  Lodge  cleverly,  in  his  speech  before  the  Mas- 
sachusetts State  Convention,  read  a  few  lines  that  were 
"  written  in  order  to  be  precise  "  as  follows  : 

For  myself  I  cannot  doubt  that  in  the  interest  of  both  parties,  Cuba 
and  Spain,  and  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  also,  the  contest  should  be 
closed.  This  is  my  judgment  on  the  facts  so  far  as  known  to  me.  Cuba 
must  be  saved  from  its  bloody  delirium  or  little  will  be  left  for  the  final 
conquerors.  Nor  can  the  enlightened  mind  fail  to  see  that  the  Spanish 
power  on  this  Island  is  anachronism.  The  day  of  European  colonies  has 
passed,  at  least  in  this  hemisphere,  where  the  rights  of  men  were  first 
proclaimed  and  self-government  first  organized.   [Applause.  1 

The  words  were  Charles  Sumner's,  spoken  in  1869, 
when  the  ten  years'  war  had  been  going  on  one  year — 
the  same  length  of  time  the  present  warfare  has  raged. 
Mr.  Sumner  was,  of  course,  hindered  in  his  sympathies 
with  the  Cuban  rebellion  of  that  time  because  the  rebels 
were  largely  slave  holders,  and  it  was  not  given  him  to 
see  that  when  the  conflict  pending,  as  he  spoke,  was 
over,  Cuba  should  be  free  in  the  sense  that  there  would 
be  an  end  of  slavery  on  her  soil. 

We  may  go  back  to  the  far-seeing  statesman,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  who  found,  when  the  Louisiana  Purchase  was 
proposed,  that  the  constitution  which  he  sought  to  con- 
strue with  a  sharp  outlook  for  the  suppression  of  doubt- 
ful powers,  was  broad  enough  to  permit  the  nation  to 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  29 

buy  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  we  find  him 
writing,  as  recently  quoted  in  the  United  States  Senate 
by  Mr.  Vest  of  Missouri  : 

Napoleon  will  certainly  give  his  consent  without  difficulty  to  our  re- 
ceiving the  Floridas,  and  with  some  difficulty  possibly  Cuba. 

That  he  would  give  us  the  Floridas  to  withhold  intercourse  with  the 
residue  of  the  colonies  cannot  be  doubted.  But  that  is  no  price,  because 
they  are  ours  in  the  first  moment  of  the  first  war,  and  until  a  war  they 
are  of  no  particular  necessity  to  jjs.  But,  although  with  difficulty,  he 
will  consent  to  our  receiving  Cuba  into  our  Union,  to  prevent  our  aid  to 
Mexico  and  the  other  provinces.  That  would  be  a  price,  and  I  would 
immediately  erect  a  column  in  the  southernmost  limit  of  Cuba,  and  in- 
scribe on  it  Ne  Plus  Ultra,  as  to  us,  in  that  direction.  We  should  then 
have  only  to  include  the  North  in  our  confederacy,  which  would  be,  of 
course,  in  the  first  war,  and  we  should  have  such  an  empire  for  liberty  as 
she  has  never  surveyed  since  the  creation,  and  I  am  persuaded  no  con- 
stitution was  ever  before  so  well  calculated  as  ours  for  extensive  empire 
and  self-government.  As  the  Mentor  went  away  before  this  change,  and 
will  leave  France  probably  while  it  is  still  a  secret  in  that  hemisphere,  I 
presume  the  expediency  of  pursuing  her  with  a  swift-sailing  dispatch  was 
considered.  It  will  be  objected  to  our  receiving  Cuba  that  no  limit  can 
then  be  drawn  to  our  future  acquisitions.  Cuba  can  be  defended  by  us 
without  a  navy,  and  this  develops  the  principle  which  ought  to  limit  our 
views.  Nothing  should  ever  be  accepted  which  would  require  a  navy  to 
defend  it. 

It  was  clearly  in  the  mind-olJefFerson  that  Spain  might 
listen  to  reason  and  part  with  Cuba,  as  France  with  Louis- 
iana. In  the  days  when  Jefferson  and  Sumner  wrote  the 
passages  given,  the  dark  problem  of  slavery  confronted 
us  in  nearly  half  our  own  States,  and  complicated  the 
issue  of  the  acquisition  of  territory  with  that  of  the  ex- 
tension or  the  restriction  of  slave  soil  in  the  republic. 

The  Cuban  filibustering  expeditions  of  a  former  gener- 
ation, attended,  as  they  were,  with  the  loss  of  valued  lives 
and  the  transmission  of  an  inheritance  of  excitements 


30  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  hatreds,  were  distinctly  to  provide  for  the  admis- 
sion of  more  slave  States  into  the  American  Union. 
With  slavery  abolished  throughout  America,  we  can 
contemplate  Cuba  without  a  shadow  of  slave  power  to 
obscure  the  vision  ;  and  there  is  the  greater  reason  why 
the  enfranchisement  of  her  whole  people  should  be  es- 
tablished and  her  self-government  absolutely  achieved, 
while  it  is  the  true  contention  that  the  better  form 
of  that  accomplishment  is  her  annexation  as  a  State  to 
the  United  States,  as  Texas  was  annexed. 

There  was  a  narrow  policy,  involving  the  greatest 
men  of  their  day  and  generation  in  our  country,  that 
would  have  excluded  Texas — the  France  of  America — 
and  that  could  have  abandoned  the  golden  opportunity 
to  acquire  California,  but  the  common  sense  of  the 
common  people  was  wiser  far  than  the  statesmanship  of 
the  giants  of  those  days.  Clay  and  Webster. 

It  is  foi^tunate  that  Cuba  did  not  fall  into  our  hands 
as  a  slave  State,  for  when  the  slave  power  was  so  great 
in  our  government,  and  a  greater  peril  than  we  were 
aware,  it  must  have  increased  our  difficulties,  and  our 
sovereign  State  idea  would,  at  the  same  time,  have 
taken  evil  shape.  But  that  is  all  over.  Our  free  Union, 
as  it  stands,  is  "  one  and  inseparable,"  and  just  as  cer- 
tain as  that  is  so,  is  the  fact  that  the  States  are  imperish- 
able quantities,  never  to  be  subtracted  from  the  sum. 
Our  State  method  of  self-government  is  that  which 
Cuba  wants — the  style  of  autonomy  she  needs — and  the 
pressure  of  our  mighty  forces  upon  her  ways  in  affairs 
political,  would  steady  the  State  to  accept  her  share  of 
our  destiny. 

Cuba,  it  will  be  remembered,  wasof  slow  growth,  and 
aroused  from  the  stupor  of   centuries  by  the  British 


HER   Sl^RUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  3  I 

occupation  of  1 762.    "  Cuba  and  the  Cubans  "  says  of  the 
protracted  paralysis  of  the  Island  : 

The  truth  lies  in  the  fact  that  after  having  exhausted  the  Indian  popu- 
lation, the  Island  was  only  held  as  a  military  post  on  the  way  to  the 
mines  of  Mexico,  with  little  else  to  occupy  its  reduced  population  than 
the  raising  of  cattle  on  lands  not  appropriated.  To  the  latter  years  of 
the  past  century,  commerce  was  not  only  confined  to  Spani^  merchant- 
men but  to  the  periodical  voyage  of  the  fleet  belonging  to  the  East  India 
Company.  Foreign  trade  has  only  been  authorized  in  the  present  cen- 
tury, when  the  European  wars,  forcing  the  Spanish  flag  from  the  seas,  an 
encroachment  of  contraband  trade  made  it  impossible  to  oppose  it. 

The  commercial  restrictions  were  antiquated,  and,  of 
course  oppressive,  and  extended  to  all  the  relations  of 
Spain  and  the  Spanish  provinces.  At  the  opening  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  now  alienated  children  of  Spain 
claimed  that  her  attitude  was  one  of  nobility,  actuated 
by  patriotic  impulse,  and  Cuba,  repeatedly  invaded  as  a 
Spanish  province,  was  true  to  the  old  colors  ;  but  her 
loyalty  did  not  affect  the  steady  encroachment  of  the 
fatalities  of  the  colonial  system  of  Spain,  or  the  indu- 
rated and  deadly  prejudices  of  her  political  economy. 


32  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA, 


CHAPTER    II. 

EUROPE   AND  AMERICA  AND  THE  INDIES. 

British  Conquest  of  Cuba — American  Revolution  and  Cuban  Insurrec- 
tions— Americans  Interested  in  Cuban  Affairs — The  Lopez  and 
Virginius  Massacres — Terrible  Scenes  of  Bloodshed — Cuban  Mar- 
tyr's Letter  to  his  Wife. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  in  the  history  of 
Cuba  is  the  length  of  time  that  it  was  but  sparsely  pop- 
ulated, and  that  the  value  of  the  Island,  on  account  of 
the  surpassing  riches  of  its  soil,  was,  if  not  unknown, 
surprisingly  unappreciated. 

The  West  Indies,  as  territories  disputed  by  European 
powers,  were  conspicuous  in  the  record  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  and  before  that  they  had  for  a  century 
and  a  half  been  famous  for  pirates,  innumerable  harbors 
favoring  the  concealment  of  lawless  wanderers;  and  the 
Spanish  treasure  ships  were  attractive  prey.  There  were 
fierce  hatred  and  jealousy  of  Spain  by  England  and 
France,  and  it  was  their  theory,  as  the  Spaniards  had 
not  acquired  through  Columbus  a  title  to  the  New 
World,  that  the  commerce  of  Spain  was  to  be  appropri- 
ated by  others  whenever  opportunity  offered.  The 
Spanish  protected  their  ships  as  well  as  they  could,  and 
one  of  the  long-standing  orders  was  that  vessels  on  their 
way  from  Mexico  to  Spain  should  stop  at  Havana  •  and 
the  situation  of  that  city  was  so  commanding;  her 
growth  was  out  of  proportion  to  the  general  pr^ress 
of  the  Island,  and  her  relative  importance  steadily  in- 
creased. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  33 

Some  of  the  most  famous  British  seamen  were 
charged  by  the  Spaniards  with  piracy,  and  their  pro- 
ceedings were  certainly  rather  irregular. 

The  conquest  of  Havana,  and  other  important  points 
in  Cuba,  by  the  English,  in  1762,  was  a  striking  feat  of 
arms;  and  why  they  gave  up  the  splendid  booty  within 
a  year,  has  never  been  quite  explained  ;  but  it  cannot 
be  said  the  English  did  not  get  somethlng~Tor  "wliaF 
they  gave. 

It  was  from  the  French  West  Indies  that  the  fleet  sailed 
that  helped  Washington  and  Rochambeau  at  Yorktown, 
and  caused  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  by  beating  back, 
after  many  broadsides,  the  squadron  that  sailed  from 
New  York  for  his  relief,  and  it  was  a  marvelous  com- 
bination to  bring  the  French  from  Gaudeloup  to  the 
capes  of  Virginia  at  the  same  time  that  Washington 
marched  away  from  the  Hudson  with  his  French  allies, 
to  catch  the  southern  army  of  England  between  the 
James  and  York  rivers,  where  Cornwallis  found  him- 
self after  his  fiery  march  through  the  Carolinas.  H  was 
necessary  to  plan  the  outlines  of  this  expedition  in  Paris, 
and  the  detail  at  Dobb's  Ferry  ;  and  at  that-tfme  Paria 
was  further  from  Yorktown,  whether  by  way  of  New. 
York  or  the  Indies,  than  New  York  is  now  from  Aus-  ■ 
tralia  ;  and  this  holds  ^ood  if  we  omit  the  wires  through 
which  the  nations  talk  between  the  continents. 

The  French,  during  our  war  of  the  revolution,  were 
strong  competitors  with  England  at  sea,  and  indeed 
they  never  gave  up  the  primacy  of  the  ocean  to  the 
British  till  after  Trafalgar,  and  they  do  not  entirely 
believe  it  yet  ;  but  Rodney  won  a  victory  over  the 
French  fleet  in  the  leeward  islands,  almost  as  important 
as  the  last  blow  Nelson  struck,  and  the  splendid  French 


34  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

armament  that  fought  off  the  British  from  the  capes  of 
Virginia  and  made  captives  of  a  British  army  was  no 
more. 

The  presence  of  the  British  for  a  year  in  Cuba  im- 
parted energy  to  the  commerce  of  the  island,  and  the 
labor  of  black  slaves  began  to  be  productive  of  sugar.  In- 
deed, slavery  and  sugar  substantially  came  together,  and 
Cuba  received  a  large  accession  of.  valuable  people  from 
Hayti  when  the  insurrections  and  massacres  there  rele- 
gated that  supurb  land  a  long  way  toward  barbarism, 
with  only  the  compensations  of  a  rude  form  of  freedom. 
At  the  turn  of  the  centuries,  when  Napoleon  shook  up 
the  nations,  Cuba  was  faithful  to  Spain — becoming  the 
ever  faithful  island — and  when  the  Spanish-American 
empire  fell  into  ruin,  Cuba  remained  the  last  and  richest 
of  the  gigantic  inheritance  bequeathed  by  the  Italian 
navigator,  who  was  rewarded  by  returning  in  chains 
from  San  Domingo,  over  the  line  on  which  he  had  sailed 
to  make  his  immortal  discovery. 
^  There  were  insurrections  in  Cuba  in  1823,  1829,  1835 
and  1844,  regarded  with  increasing  interest  and  sym- 
pathy by  the  American  people  ;  and  in  1850  occurred 
the  famous  Lopez  and  Crittenden  expedition.  Narcisso 
Lopez  was  a  native  of  Venezuela,  who  reached  the 
rank  of  major-general  in  the  Spanish  army,  married  a 
wealthy  Cuban  lady,  was  detected  as  interested  in  an 
insurrectionary  movement,  and  escaped  to  the  United 
States,  where  he  was  devoted  to  plans  for  the  liberation 
of  Cuba,  and,  in  1850,  sailed  from  New  Orleans  in  the 
steamer  Pampero  with  three  hundred  men.  The  second 
in  command  was  a  W.  S.  Crittenden,  a  graduate  of 
West  Point  and  Mexican  War  hero,  though  but  twenty- 
eight  years  old. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  35 

There  was  hardly  a  pretense  of  disguise  in  our  South- 
ern States,  of  the  object  of  the  expedition,  and  the  de- 
tails of  it  were  recklessly  given,  so  that  the  Spanish 
authorities  were  warned,  and  as  they  knew  Lopez 
meant  to  land  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  island,  letters 
were  sent  purporting  to  be  from  Cuban  patriots,  per- 
suading him  to  land  in  the  western  province,  where  a 
rising  would  be  prepared  to  support  him. 

Lopez  fell  into  the  trap.  He  stopped  at  Key  West 
to  take  coal,  and  landed,  as  the  Spaniards  had  planned, 
at  Bahia  Honda,  and  marched  into  the  interior,  where 
the  insurrection  was  to  take  place,  and  Crittenden  re- 
mained at  the  seaside  as  a  base  of  operations. 

Hearing  nothing  from  Lopez,  and  knowing,  there- 
fore, his  movement  was  a  failure,  Crittenden  made  a 
desperate  attempt  to  escape  in  open  boats,  but  was 
discovered  and  captured  by  the  Spanish  Admiral, 
Brestillo. 

The  United  States  consul  was  appealed  to  for  assist- 
ance, but  declined  to  interfere  ;  and  did  not  even,  it  is 
said,  visit  the  unfortunate  men,  because  he  was  alarmed 
for  his  personal  safety,  and  there  was  no  doubt  at  all  of 
the  nature  of  -the  expedition. 

The  proceedings  were  prompt.  Crittenden  and  fifty 
men  were  shot  in  groups  of  six  under  the  walls  of  Fort 
Atares,  Crittenden  refusing  to  kneel  with  his  back  to 
the  firing  party,  according  to  the  Spanish  fancy,  but 
faced  them  erect,  saying  he  kneeled  only  to  God  !  The 
reports  are,  that  the  bodies  of  the  victims  were  treated 
with  frightful  indignities. 

Lopez  found  some  sympathizers,  but  there  was  no 
demonstration  in  his  favor,  as  he  had  expected,  and 
after  two  skirmishes,  he  surrendered,  and  was  executed 

C-3 


36  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

with  the  garrote  at  Havana,  not  being  permitted  the 
death  of  a  soldier.  Forty-nine  of  his  men  were  shot, 
and  one  hundred  and  six  of  them  held  in  servitude, 
loaded  with  chains,  seven  months  in  Spain. 

This  bloody  business  caused  intense  feeling  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  death  of  the  gallant  Crittenden 
was  bitterly  lamented  and  resented. 

Captain  Joseph  Fry,  of  the  ill-fated  Virgintus,  is 
widely  known  as  "The  Cuban  Martyr."  He  was  a 
native  of  Florida,  born  at  Tampa  Bay,  June  14,  1826, 
and  was  a  confederate  officer  of  high  courage  and  ca- 
pacity. 

He  was  at  Port  au  Prince,  Oct.  7,  1873,  with  the  Vir- 
gintus, and  took  on  board  war  material,  500  Remington 
rifles,  600  sabres,  400  revolvers,  and  many  other  articles 
of  unmistakable  war  material.  There  is  no  more 
serious  question  of  the  character  of  the  expedition  than 
of  the  nature  of  the  cargo,  though  some  of  the  men 
seemed  of  an  irresponsible  sort.  While  the  Virginius 
was  on  the  way  to  Cuba,  the  Spanish  gunboat  Tornado 
appeared,  and  Captain  Fry  attempted  to  return  to 
Jamaica,  and  urged  his  ship  to  the  utmost,  burning  fat, 
and  firing  up  to  such  an  extent  that  the  pursuers  in  the 
night  located  the  ship  by  the  flame  from  her  chimneys. 
The  Virginius  and  Tornado  were  built  by  the  same 
British  firm  for  blockade-runners.  The  Tornado  proved 
the  better  boat  on  this  occasion,  and  gradually  came 
within  range.  Various  causes  were  assigned  for  the 
failure  of  the  Virginius  to  show  speed,  and  there  was  a 
story  of  treachery,  but  as  she  had  not  been  docked  for 
fourteen  months,  and  needed  scraping  at  least  once  in 
six  months,  there  was  no  need  of  treason  in  the  engine- 
room  to  account  for  her  capture. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  37 

There  was  a  dreadful  panic  on  the  doomed  vessel. 
The  war  material  was  lifted  out  of  the  hold  by  a  crane 
and  flung  overboard,  though  there  was  enough  left  in  the 
fragments  of  cases  to  show  what  the  "  merchandise  "  that 
was  thrown  into  the  sea  had  been.  Many  of  the  party 
opened  their  trunks,  and  threw  away  everything  they 
regarded  as  suspicious,  and  the  whole  vessel  was  in 
wild  disorder.  The  first  shot  from  the  Tornado  fell  wide, 
but  the  second  struck  the  smoke-stack  of  the  fugitive, 
and  she  was  stopped,  and  surrendered,  the  captain  pro- 
testing that  his  papers  were  regular,  that  the  Virginius 
was  "  an  American  ship,  carrying  American  colors  and 
papers,  with  an  American  captain  and  an  American 
crew,"  and  that  the  passengers  were  going  to  Costa  Rica. 
He,  therefore,  protested  in  the  name  of  the  American 
government  against  detention.  The  Spanish  captain 
said  the  Virginius  was  "  a  pirate  ship,"  and  ordered  the 
American  colors  pulled  down  and  the  Spanish  colors 
run  up — and  it  is  said  the  lowered  flag  was  trampled 
upon. 

The  Tornado,  with  her  prize,  made  for  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  arriving  there  Nov.  ist,  and  the  fierce  demonstra- 
tions of  the  volunteers  alarmed  Captain  Fry,  who  does 
not  seem  until  then  to  have  realized  his  situation,  and 
he  is  reported  by  his  friends  there  to  have  said  :  "If  I 
die,  it  will  be  for  the  Cuban  cause."  The  court  martial 
of  those  recognized  as  Cuban  insurgents  was  a  matter 
of  form,  and  the  decision  that  the  prisoners  must  be 
shot  to  death  was  soon  reached. 

The  Spanish  official  report  of  the  execution  of  the 
patriotic  generals  who  were  the  leading  passengers  of 
the  Virginius  is  the  following  : 
3 


38  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Santiago  de  Cuba,  Nov.  4,  1873. 
To  His  Excellency,  The  Captain- General  : 

At  6  o'clock  this  morning,  were  shot  in  this  city,  for  being  traitors  to 
their  country,  and  for  being  insurgent  chiefs,  the  following  persons, 
styling  themselves  "patriot  generals  ":  Bernabe  Varona,  alias  Bambeta, 
General  of  Division  ;  Pedro  Cespedes,  Commanding  General  of  Cien- 
fuegos  ;  General  Jesus  Del  Sol,  and  Brigadier  Washington  Ryan.  The 
executions  took  place  in  the  presence  of  the  entire  corps  of  volunteers, 
the  force  of  regular  infantry,  and  the  sailors  from  the  fleet.  An  im- 
mense concourse  of  people  also  witnessed  the  act.  The  best  of  order 
prevailed.     The  prisoners  met  their  death  with  composure. 

*'  BURRIEL." 

There  were  a  few  friendly  spectators  at  the  execution, 
which  took  place  in  what  was  appropriately  known  as 
the  "  slaughter-house."  Ryan  wore  a  blue  shirt  with  a 
silver  star.  The  victims  were  shot  in  the  back,  and  the 
bodies  beheaded,  the  heads  displayed  on  spikes,  while 
the  trunks  were  trampled  by  horses.  A  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Hej-ald,  named  George  W.  Sherman, 
was  imprisoned  four  days  for  attempting  to  sketch  the 
scene.  The  American  consul  attempted  to  protest,  but 
was  restrained  in  his  house  by  a  guard.  One  account, 
by  an  American  present,  says  the  people  were  not  in  a 
mood  of  noisy  approbation,  but  were  "  excessively  quiet." 

Then  came  the  court  martial  in  the  case  of  the  cap- 
tain and  crew.  The  American  consul  saw  Captain  Fry 
— who  was  without  delay  convicted,  by  the  alleged  court 
and  ordered  shot — make  his  protest,  as  a  preparation 
for  death ;  and  the  captain  signed  it  two  hours  before 
he  marched  to  the  "  slaughter-house."  It  was  Novem- 
ber 7,  1873.  At  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  con« 
demned  officers  and  crew  of  the  Virginius  were  marched 
by  fours  to  the  shooting  place,  passing  and  saluting  the 
American  consulate,  where  the  flagstaff  was  bare. 


O 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  4 1 

Captain  Fry  was  of  the  last  group  in  the  procession 
and  shot  first,  being  the  only  man,  though  the  soldiers 
stood  only  ten  feet  away,  who  fell  dead  at  the  opening 
volley.  The  majority  of  the  condemned,  as  the  firing  pro- 
ceeded, were  wounded,  and  killed  as  they  writhed  on 
the  ground,  the  favored  method  of  dispatch  being 
firing  rifles  in  the  mouths  of  those  who  were  dis- 
abled. The  number  killed  was  fifty-three,  and  ninty- 
three  more  were  under  sentence.  Among  the  executed 
was  the  second  engineer,  who  made  a  declaration  to 
the  Spaniards  that  he  had  meddled  with  the  engine 
and  caused  the  capture.  He  was  marched  with  the  rest 
prevent  his  comrades  from  knowing  that  he  had  been 
favored,  and  shot  by  mistake,  making  frantic  protests. 
He  probably  had  not  told  the  Spaniards  the  truth,  and 
got  the  just  award  for  his  treachery. 

At  this  time  General  Grant  was  President  of  the 
United  States;  General  Sickles  Minister  to  Spain  ;  the 
famous  orator  Castelar,  President  of  Spain,  and  he,  it 
is  believed,  ordered  the  execution  not  to  take  place; 
but,  if  so,  the  order  did  not  reach  Santiago  in 
time. 

There  came  help,  after  the  captain  was  shot  with  his 
crew,  from  an  unexpected  quarter,  and  the  incident  is 
the  one  gleam  of  white  light  in  this  dark  chapter.  The 
British  steamer  Niobe,  Captain  Sir  Lampton  Lorraine, 
ran  in  at  full  speed  from  Jamaica,  starting  in  such  a 
hurry  she  left  some  of  her  crew  ashore,  and  the  captain 
was  landed  in  Cuba  before  his  ship  was  anchored,  and 
demanded  that  the  massacre  should  be  stopped.  He 
claimed  to  represent  the  United  States  as  w^ell  as  Eng- 
land, it  is  said  ;  and  he  even  threatened  to  bombard  the 
city.     His  vigor  caused  a  suspension  of  the  sentences 


42  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Still  remaining  to  be  executed,  and  the  lives  of  the  pris- 
oners not  already  put  to  death  were  saved.  On  his  way 
home  Sir  Lampton  Lorraine  stopped  at  New  York, 
where  he  was  honored  with  an  invitation  to  hold  a  re- 
ception, which  he  declined,  and  by  way  of  saying  to  him, 
"  You're  a  brick,"  a  silver  brick  from  Nevada  was  pre- 
sented him  bearing  this  inscription,  "  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water.  Santiago  de  Cuba,  November,  1873,  to  Sir 
Lampton  Lorraine,  from  the  Comstock  Mines,  Virginia 
City,  Nevada,  U.  S.  A."  For  some  reason  not  clear,  the 
House  of  the  American  Congress  laid  a  resolution  of 
thanks  to  Sir  Lampton  on  the  table. 

January,  1874,  President  Grant  sent  a  special  message 
about  the  Virginius  case  to  Congress,  noting  that  the 
ship  was  correctly  cleared  and  had  a  right  to  fly  the 
American  flag,  and  that  no  "  state  of  war  existed." 
The  Spaniards  contended  the  Virginius  was  not  entitled 
to  the  character  given  by  her  papers.  By  an  arrange- 
ment, which  General  Grant  said  w^as  "  moderate  and 
just,"  the  vessel  and  survivers  were  surrendered  to  the 
United  States  and  this  was  "  calculated  to  cement  the 
good  relations  which  so  long  subsisted  between  Spain 
and  the  United  States."  The  ship  with  the  American 
flag  flying  was  delivered  at  Bahia  Honda,  but  she  was 
unseaworthy  and,  struck  by  a  storm  on  the  way  to  New 
York,  was  sunk  off  Cape  Fear.  Her  surviving  passen- 
gers were  given  up  to  the  United  States  at  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  December  i,  1873. 

There  was  a  vast  amount  of  feeling  in  the  United  States 
about  the  Virginius  massacre,  but  the  trouble  w^as  the 
technical  rights  of  the  Spaniards  prevented  any  practical 
measures  being  taken  to  call  them  to  account  for  the  shock- 
ing barbarity  of  the  wholesale  executions;  but  the  painful 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  43 

circumstances  have  been  well  remembered.  It  was  the 
undoubted  filibuster  record  of  the  steamer  that  caused 
the  marked  coolness  of  the  message  of  President  Grant. 
Captain  Fry  wrote  a  farewell  letter  to  his  wife  the 
night  before  his  execution.  "  Wherever,"  says  the  Bal- 
timorean,  in  first  publishing  this  letter,  "the  story  of  the 
Vh'ginius  outrage  shall  go,  the  story  of  this  letter  will 
go  to.  It  is  a  letter  that  many  an  eye  will  weep  to 
read,  and  that  any  man  at  such  an  extremity  might 
envy  the  power  to  write." 

On  Board  the  Spanish  Man-of-War,  La  Tornado^ 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  Nov.  6,  '73. 
Dear,  Dear  Dita: — 

When  I  left  you  I  had  no  idea  that  we  should  never  meet 
again  in  this  world,  but  it  seems  strange  to  me  that  I  should  to-night,  and 
on  Annie's  birthday,  be  calmly  seated,  on  a  beautiful  moonlight  night,  in 
a  most  beautiful  bay  in  Cuba,  to  take  my  last  leave  of  you  my  own  dear, 
sweet  wife!  and  with  the  thought  of  your  own  bitter  anguish,  my  only 
regret  at  leaving. 

I  have  been  tried  to-day,  and  the  president  of  the  court  martial  asked 
the  favor  of  embracing  me  at  parting,  and  clasped  me  to  his  heart.  I 
have  shaken  hands  with  each  of  my  judges,  and  the  secretary  of  the 
court  and  interpreter  have  promised  me,  as  a  special  favor,  to  attend 
my  execution,  which  will,  I  am  told,  be  within  a  few  hours  after  my  sen- 
tence is  pronounced. 

I  am  told  my  death  will  be  painless;  in  short  I  have  had  a  very  cheer- 
ful and  pleasant  chat  about  my  funeral,  to  which  I  shall  go  a  few  hours 
from  now,  how  soon  I  cannot  say  yet.  It  is  curious  to  see  how  I  make 
friends.  Poor  Bambetta  pronounced  me  a  gentleman,  and  he  was  the 
brightest  and  bravest  creature  I  ever  saw. 

The  priest  who  gave  me  communion  on  board  this  morning  put  a 
double  scapular  around  my  neck  and  a  medal  which  he  intends  to  wear 
himself.  A  young  Spanish  officer  brought  me  a  bright  new  silk  badge 
with  the  Blessed  Virgin  stamped  upon  it,  to  wear  to  my  execution  for 
him,  and  a  handsome  cross  in  some  fair  lady's  handiwork.  They  are  to 
be  kept  as  relics  of  me.  He  embraced  me  affectionately  in  his  room 
with  tears  in  his  eyes. 

'  -"" SITT 


44  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Dear  Sweetheart,  you  will  be  able  to  bear  it  for  my  sake,  for  I  will  be 
with  you  if  God  permits.  Although  I  know  my  hours  are  short  and  few* 
I  am  not  sad.  I  feel  I  shall  always  be  with  you  right  soon,  dear  Dita, 
and  you  will  not  be  afraid  of  me.  Pray  for  me  and  I  will  pray  with  you. 
There  is  to  be  a  fearful  sacrifice  of  life  from  the  Virginius,  and  as  I 
think,  a  needless  one,  as  the  poor  people  are  unconscious  of  crime,  and 
even  of  their  fate  up  to  now.  I  hope  God  will  forgive  me  if  I  am  to 
blame  for  it. 

If  you  write  to  President  Grant,  he  will  probably  order  my  pay,  due 
when  I  resigned,  paid  to  you  after  my  death.  People  will  be  kinder  to 
you  now,  dear  Dita,  at  least  I  hope  so.  Do  not  dread  death  when  it 
comes  to  you.  It  will  be  God's  angel  of  rest, — remember  this.  I  hope 
my  children  will  forget  their  father's  harshness,  and  remember  his  love 
and  anxiety  for  them.     May  they  practice  regularly  their  religion  and 

pray  for  him  always.     Tell ,  the  last  act  of  my  life  will  be  a  public 

profession  of  my  faith,  and  hope  in  Him,  of  whom  we  need  not  be 
ashamed,  and  it  is  not  honest  to  withold  that  public  acknowledgement 
from  any  false  modesty  or  timidity.     May  God  bless  and  save  us  all. 

Sweet,  dear,  dear  Dita,  we  will  soon  meet  again.  Till  then  adieu  for 
the  last  time. 

Your  devoted  husband, 

Joseph  Fry. 

The  adventurous  life  and  heroic  death  of  Captain 
Fry,  and  his  farewell  letter,  made  a  deep  and  lasting 
impression  upon  the  American  people  and  Cuban  pa- 
triots, and  his  pathetic  history  is  written  in  song  and 
story. 

Major  Moses  P.  Handy  witnessed  the  surrender  of 
the  Virgifiius,  going  out  from  Key  West  as  a  stow- 
away on  the  Despatch,  the  vessel  appointed  to  receive 
the  surrender.  The  Major  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  newspaper  men. 

Every  New  York  journal  sent  correspondents  to  the  front.  The  New 
York  Herald  was  represented  at  first  at  Key  West  by  W.  B.  Stephens 
and  Karl  Case,  who  were  reinforced  by  James  A.  Cowardin  and 
"Modoc"  Fox,  and  finally  by  J.  A.  McGahan,  one  of  the  most  famous 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  45 

of  war  correspondents,  who  came  from  the  European  station  on  one  of 
our  men-of-war,  and  Julius  Chambers.  The  Tribune  bureau  was  in 
my  charge,  and  we  also  had  Ralph  Keeler  at  Santiago  de  Cuba  and 
W.  P.  Sullivan,  now  a  New  York  broker,  at  Havana;  McGahan,  Stephens, 
Cowardin,  Case  and  Fox  are  now  dead. 

The  race  between  the  correspondents  for  news  was  very  hot.  Every 
man  as  the  representative  of  his  newspaper  was  on  his  mettle,  and  enterprise 
was  at  a  premium.  McGahan  had  the  advantage  of  being  ward  room 
guest  on  a  man-of-war.  Fox  was  paymaster's  yeoman  on  the  Finta,- 
the  fastest  boat  in  the  navy.  When  we  learned  that  the  Virginius  was 
to  be  surrendered,  we  all  realized  that  that  event  would  end  the 
campaign. 

The  Despatch  made  for  Bahia  Honda.  The  circum- 
stances of  the  surrender  are  thus  related  by  the  major: 

It  was  about  noon  when  we  passed  an  old  fort  called  Murillo,  command- 
ing the  entrance  to  the  harbor.  Speed  was  then  slackened,  and  the 
vessel  crept  cautiously  along  the  narrow,  but  clearly  marked,  channel 
which  leads  to  the  smooth  water  where  the  Virginius  was  supposed  to 
be  lying. 

As  soon  as  the  Despatch  was  sighted  from  the  shore,  the  Spanish  flag, 
bearing  the  crown,  notwithstanding  the  republic  abolishing  that  mon- 
archical emblem,  was  flung  to  the  breeze.  We  discovered  a  black 
sidewheel  steamship  lying  about  a  mile  beyond  the  fort.  It  was  the 
Virginius.  No  other  craft,  except  two  or  three  coasting  steamers,  or 
fishing  smacks,  was  then  visible,  and  it  was  not  until  we  were  about 
to  come  to  anchor  that  we  discerned  a  Spanish  sloop-of-war  lying  close 
under  the  shore,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  away. 

Very  soon  a  boat  from  the  Spanish  man-of-war  came  alongside  of  the 
Virginius,  and  immediately  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  raised  by  Spanish 
hands,  and  again  floated  over  the  vessel  which  carried  Ryan  and  his 
unfortunate  comrades  to  their  death.  At  the  same  moment  we  saw,  by 
the  aid  of  field  glasses,  another  boat  let  down  from  the  Spanish  vessel. 
It  proved  to  be  the  captain's  gig,  and  brought  to  the  Despatch  a  naval 
officer  in  full  uniform  who  proved  to  be  Sefior  de  la  Camera,  of  the 
Spanish  sloop-of-war  Favorita.  He  stepped  briskly  forward,  and  was 
met  at  the  gangway  by  Captain  Rodgers  and  Captain  Whiting.  After 
an  exchange    of    courteous  salutations,   Commander    de    la    Camera 


46  THE   SrORY   OF   CUBA. 

remarked  that  he  had  received  a  copy  of  the  protocol  providing  foi 
the  surrender  of  the  Virginius,  and  that  the  surrender  might  now  be 
considered  to  have  taken  place.  Captain  Whiting  replied  that  under  his 
instructions  the  following  day  was  named  for  the  surrender,  and  that  he 
could  not  receive  it  until  that  time.  Meanwhile  he  would  thank  the 
Spanish  officer  to  continue  in  possession.  Nine  o'clock  on  Tuesday 
morning  was  then  agreed  upon  as  the  hour,  and  after  informing  the 
American  officer  that  there  was  coal  enough  on  board  of  the  Virginius 
to  last  six  days,  salutes  were  exchanged  and  the  Spanish  officer  retired. 
The  next  morning,  half  an  hour  ahead  of  time,  the  gig  of  the  Favorita 
came  over  to  the  Virginius.  It  contained  oarsmen  and  a  single  officer. 
As  the  latter  stepped  on  deck,  a  petty  officer  and  half  a  dozen  men,  who 
had  stood  watch  on  the  Virginius  during  the  night,  went  over  the  side 
and  remained  in  a  dingy  awaiting  orders.  At  9  precisely  by  the  bells 
the  American  flag  again  flew  to  the  flagstaff  of  the  Virginius,  and  at  the 
same  moment  a  boat  containing  Captian  Whiting  and  Lieutenant  Marix 
put  away  from  the  Despatch.  As  they  ascended  the  accommodation 
ladder  of  the  Virginius  the  single  man  on  deck  who  proved  to  be  Senor 
de  la  Camera,  advanced  and  made  a  courteous  salute.  The  officers  then 
read  their  respective  instructions,  and  Captian  de  la  Camera  remarked 
that  in  obedience  to  the  requirements  of  the  government  and  in  execu- 
tion of  the  provisions  of  the  protocol,  he  had  the  honor  to  turn  over  the 
steamer  Virginius  to  the  American  authorities.  Captain  Whiting 
accepted,  and  learning  that  a  receipt  was  required,  gave  one  in  due 
form.  A  word  or  two  more  was  spoken  and  the  Spaniard  stepped 
over  the  side,  signaled  to  his  oarsmen,  and  in  ten  minutes  was  again 
upon  the  deck  of  his  own  vessel.  Beside  the  surrendering  and  receipt- 
ing officers,  I  was  the  only  witness  of  the  ceremony. 

The  Virginius  was  extremely  dirty  and  in  bad  form, 
her  engines  disordered,  and  she  was  leaking.  On  the 
way  to  a  northern  port  the  ship  foundered  ;  Major 
Handy  says : 

It  was  the  general  opinion  among  the  naval  officers  that  the  Sania 
had  endeavored  to  belittle  the  whole  proceeding  by  smuggling  the 
Virginius  out  of  Havana,  by  selecting  an  obscure  harbor  not  a  port 
of  entry  as  the  place  of  surrender  and  by  turning  the  duty  of  sur- 
render over   to   a   surveying    sloop,    while   the   Tornado^    which   made 


GEN.  PEDRO  CESPED^S.  GEN.  JESUSDEL  SOL. 

THE  VIRGINIUS  MAR  TYRS. 


(47) 


(UKIVERSITT 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  49 

the  capture,  lay  in  the  harbor  of  Havana  and  the  Isabella  la  Catholica, 
which  had  been  selected  as  convoy,  steamed  back  to  Havana  under 
cover  of  the  night.  The  American  officers  and  American  residents 
in  Cuba  and  Key  West  agreed  that  our  government  ought  to  have 
required  that  the  Virginius  should  be  surrendered  with  all  the  released 
prisoners  on  board  either  at  Santiago  de  Cuba,  where  the  Tornado 
brought  in  her  ill-gotten  prey  and  where  the  inhuman  butcheries  were 
committed,  or  in  Havana  where  she  was  afterward  taken  in  triumph,  and 
greeted  with  the  cheers  of  the  excited  Spaniards  over  the  humiliation 
of  the  Americans. 

The  difficulty  the  administration  of  General  Grant 
had  to  respond  to  the  public  excitement  about  the 
Virginius,  was  the  clear  truth  that  she  was,  when  cap- 
tured, engaged  in  an  unlawful  enterprise. 

Major  Handy  tells  in  this  connection  the  story  of  the 
mysterious  disappearance  of  Ralph  Keeler,  a  magazine 
writer  of  celebrity,  turned  war  correspondent,  whose 
taking  off   the  major  charges  to  the  Spaniards,  saying: 

Keeler  was  probabl}'  dead  at  the  moment  when  his  instructions  were 
filed  in  the  telegraph  office.  He  disappeared  as  effectually  as  if  the 
earth  had  opened  and  swallowed  him.  How,  why  or  when  he  died 
his  friends  never  knew.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  he  was  another 
victim  of  the  hatred  which  in  those  days  inflamed  the  Spanish  breast 
against  every  citizen  of  the  United  States.  Circumstantial  evidence 
indicated  that  he  was  assassinated  by  Spanish  volunteers,  and  I  have 
always  thought  of  my  genial  and  gifted  colleague  as  one  of  the  murdered 
Americans  now  vaguely  remembered  as  the  victims  of  the  Spanish 
bloodthirstiness  in  the  matter  of  the  unavenged  Virginius  incident. 

There  are  many  chances  for  the  mysterious  departure 
to  the  unknown  of  correspondents  serving  in  the  midst 
of  the  precarious  conditions  of  civil  war,  but  the  mur- 
ders which  the  volunteers  certainly  committed  were 
affairs  of  the  streets,  theatres  or  hotels,  and  lacked  no 
circumstance  of  notoriety.     There  seems  to  be  a  blood 


50 


THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 


madness  in  the  air.  In  the  late  February  in  Havana  a 
madman  seized  a  rifle  with  sabre  attached  and  assaulted 
a  young  man  who  had  asked  him  an  innocent  question, 
knocked  him  down  and  stabbed  him  to  death  with  the 
bayonet,  sticking  it  through  him  a  score  of  times,  and 
then  cried,  "Cable  my  queen  that  I  have  killed  a 
rebel!"  The  statement  that  this  murderer  was  insane, 
was  distinctly  in  some  sense  true. 

It  is  not,  we  must  say,  a  correct  use  of  words  to  say  the 
the  United  States  was  degraded  by  the  Virginius  inci- 
dent. In  proportion  as  nations  are  great  and  dignified, 
they  must  at  least  obey  their  own  laws  and  treaties. 
When  Grant  was  President  of  the  United  States  and 
Castelar  was  President  of  Spain,  there  was  a  reckless 
adventure  and  shocking  massacre,  but  we  were  not  de- 
graded because  we  did  not  indulge  a  policy  of  vengeance. 

LIFE  OF  CAPTAIN  JOSEPH  FRY,  THE  CUBAN  MARTYR. 

BY    JEANIE    MORT    WALKER. 

On  Santiago's  placid  bay 

The  town  of  Santiago  lay  ; 

And  in  her  walls  a  deed  was  done — 

The  foulest  e'er  the  sun  shone  on. 

O  Cuba  !  rarest,  brightest  gem 

That  decks  Atlantic's  diadem  ! 

O  star  of  constellation  bright 

That  beams  upon  our  ravished  sight ! 

When  yet  the  earth  was  fresh  and  young, 

And  stars  their  matins   scarce  had  sung, 

And  still  the  heavenly  echo  rung, 

With  lavish  hand  then  nature  flung 

A  shower  from  her  richest  store — 

Which  on  her  breast  and  brow  she  wore — 

Of  gems   that  ransomed  kings  of  yore. 

Which  fell  beside  the  western  shore 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 

Of  green  Atlantic's  swelling  flood, 

And  there  began  to  grow  and  bud, 

Till  soon  was  seen  a  group  of  isles 

Which  wear  their  mother  Nature's  smiles  ; 

Cherished  and  blest  beyond  the  rest 

Of  those  who  claim  the  mother's   breast ! 

As  parents  still  love  most  the  face 

Where  their  own  features  they  may  trace, 

Of  this  fair  islet  galaxy, 

Which  studs  the  fairy  summer  sea, 

Most  grand  of  all,  my  theme  is   seen — 

Lo  !  Cuba — great  Antilles'  queen. 

Here  zephyrs  whisper  through  the  palms, 

With  odorous  breath  of  spice  and  balms  ; 

The  orange,  rich  in  golden  hue, 

Hangs  ripe  and  tempting  to  the  view  ; 

The  bulbul,  from  his  fragrant  nest 

Upon  the  green  Acacia's  crest. 

With  quivering  wing  and  swelling  throat, 

Pours  forth  his  rippling,  pearly  note  ; 

And  as  he  calls  his  absent  mate 

From  'mid  the  stately  feathery  date, 

He  weaves,  with  silvery  voice  and  strong, 

For  her  a  wreath  of  gems  of  song. 

Its  massive  elephantine  leaves 

The  staid  banana  here  upheaves  ; 

And  far  above  the  garden  wall — 

Adobe-built,  and  stout  and  tall — 

Its  verdant  banners  wave  on  high, 

In  rythmic  bend  to  zephyr's  sigh  ; 

While,  from  the  distance-softened  height, 

With  vines  and  cocoa  plumes  bedight. 

The  mellow  tinklings  faintly  sound, 

As  though  in  light  and  fragrance  drowned. 

The  train,  with  bells  and  trappings  gay, 

Toils  up  the  steep  and  devious  way  ; 

While  sauntering  idly  in  the  rear, 

Lags  slowly  the  swathy  muleteer. 

The  warm,  voluptuous  tropic  day. 

Which  knows  no  fall  nor  year's  decay, 


51 


52  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

With  sense-intoxicating  power 

Bids  all  enjoy  the  golden  hour, 

Unchecked  by  thoughts  of  future  woe, 

Of  blighting  blast,  or  field  of  snow  ; 

For  here  the  summer  knows  no  death, 

The  gentle  spring  no  dying  breath  ; 

No  early  grave  ingulfs  the  bloom 

Nor  hides  their  sweetness  in  the  tomb. 

Like  fair  twin  souls,  from  sin  set  free, 

And  radiant  in  eternity, 

The  favored  children  of  the  year 

All  live  and  reign  immortal  here. 

Here  find  they  what  vain  mortals  seek, 

And  that  of  which  the  poets  speak — 

A  heaven  on  earth  ;  'tis  here  it  lies, 

For  them  a  mundane  Paradise. 

Amid  the  scene  depicted  here, 

And  mirrored  in  the  waters  clear 

Of  Santiago's  placid  bay, 

The  town  of  Santiago  lay.  \ 

A  prisoner  from  his  grated  cell 

Looked  out  upon  the  briny  swell. 

And  in  his  breast  an  echo  found 

For  ocean's  heaving,  sobbing  sound. 

And  as  he  watched  the  dying  day, 

And  caught  the  sun's  expiring  ray — 

He  sat  and  gazed  with  yearning  eye 

Upon  the  soft  cerulean  sky. 

He  saw  Night  draw  her  curtains  dark 

O'er  sleeping  sea  and  anchored  bark. 

The  eyes  of  heaven — the  gleaming  stars — • 

In  pity  watched  him  through  the  bars. 

He  looked  out  on  the  glorious  night 

And  thought  on  Him — supremely  bright — 

The  Architect  of  skill  divine 

Who  did  the  starry  dome  design. 

Which  roofs  this  balmy  southern  night 

Replete  with  incense  and  delight — 

Most  grand  that  he  has  since  his  birth 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY.  53 

Beheld,  and  'tis  his  last  on  earth  ! 

But  in  this  solemn,  dying  hour, 

He  fears  not  death  nor  human  power ; 

He  looks  his  fate  full  in  the  face, 

Supported  by  his  Savior's  grace. 

Yet  still  his  brave  heart  fondly  turns 

To  where  his  hearthstone  fire  burns. 

And  where  are  gathered  those  for  whom 

He'd  laugh  at  danger  scorn  the  tomb. 

He  thinks  of  her — his  bosom's  wife — 

And  of  his  children,  more  than  life  ; 

Regrets,  for  this  alone,  his  end, 

That  it  with  pain  their  hearts  should  rend  : 

And  now,  with  heart  still  fond  and  true 

He  writes  his  sad,  his  last  adieu. 

The  night  is  o'er,  the  morning  breaks, 

But  not  a  heart  among  them  quakes. 

A  martyr  band,  and  he  their  chief, 

They  stand  unmoved  by  fear  or  grief. 

At  sharp  command  the  column  starts. 

And  on  they  move,  those  patriot  hearts, 

With  steady  step,  unblenchingeye  ; 

Thus  nobly  move  they  on  to  die. 

And  as  they  pass  the  Consulate 

Which  marks  Columbia's  flag  and  State 

Though  powerless  to  save  him  now, 

He  greets  it  with  a  loyal  bow. 

And  now  they  reach    a  massive  wall 

Where  lies  imbedded  many  a  ball  ; 

For  other  victims  on  this  spot 

Have  died  beneath  the  murderous  shot. 

At  the  wall's  base,  a  ditch  their  lies. 

Where  drops  the  doomed  one  as  he  dies  ; 

And  here  the  hapless  victims  halt, 

And  kneel  beside  the  waiting  vault ; 

The  guard  steps  back — a  breathless  pause — 

A  deadly  aim  each  soldier  draws. 

The  signal  comes — a  flash — a  roar — 

And  Freedom's  sons  lie  red  with  gore  ! 


54  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

As  Rachel,  lone  and  childless  left, 

And  of  her  own  by  death  bereft, 

Wept  sore,  and  comfort  still  refused, 

Columbia  !  mourn  thy  flag  abused. 

Thy  children  bound  by  foreign  chain, 

And  by  the  ruthless  alien  slain. 

O,  where  those  sacred  ashes  lie. 

Weep  o'er  the  grave  of  noble  Fry  ! 

No  more  from  out  his  grated  cell, 

He  gazes  at  the  briny  swell  ; 

His  children,  wife,  and  native  shore 

Shall  see  his  loving  face  no  more. 

His  voice  is  now  forever  hushed. 

Quenched  by  the  stream  of  life  that  gushed 

From  out  his  body,  wounded  sore. 

But  painless  now  forevermore. 

Shall  butchers'  scenes  like  these  act  still  ? 
Insult  our   flag,  our  brethren  kill  ? 
From  widows,  mothers,  stricken  homes. 
From  rural  plains,  from  city  domes. 
From  friendless  orphans'  severed  ties. 
From  graves  where  buried  honor  lies. 
From  north  to  south,  from  east  to  west. 
One  answer  comes — one  sole  behest : 
The  answer  will  be  verified 
When  Freedom's  banner,  hailed  with  pride, 
Shall  o'er  the  beauteous  island  queen 
Where  now  red  murder's  flag  is  seen 
And  o'er  bold  Fry's  forsaken  grave, 
Forever  in  sad  triumph  wave. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  55 


CHAPTER  III. 

ORIGIN  AND  CONDUCT  OF  CUBAN  WARS. 

Spanish  Passion  for  Cuba — Growth  of  Cuban  War  Spirit— The  Ten 
Years'  War  Compared  with  the  Present — Gomez  and  Campos  in 
Both — Tacon's  Tyranny — Slavery  Abolished — "Book  of  Blood" — 
Edinburg  Review  on  War  of  '68-78. 

It  has  seemed  that  in  proportion  as  the  Spanish  have 
lost  their  colonies  their  passion  for  Cuba  grew,  until 
latterly  Spain  has  seemed  to  live  and  die  for  the  island, 
and  the  more  certain  appears  the  drift  of  destiny  and 
the  logic  of  history,  that  she  and  Cuba  must  part,  that 
they  are  of  incompatible  temperament  and  irreconcila- 
ble policies,  the  more  fierce  and  relentless  is  the  de- 
termination of  the  people  of  the  Peninsula  to  hold  the 
Cubans,  at  all  cost,  for  all  time,  under  their  sovereignty. 
The  danger  of  Spain  in  letting  go  is  the  extent  to  which 
she  has  committed  her  life  to  the  contest.  If  she  will 
perish  with  the  departure  of  her  possession,  it  must  be 
so  because  she  will  have  it  so. 

Spain  chose  to  selfishly  use  Cuba — to  govern  the  Island 
through  swarms  of  office  holders,  to  arbitrarily  order 
the  course  of  her  industries,  and  get  the  advantage  of 
the  products  of  the  Island  in  the  promotion  of  her  own 
manufactories  and  commerce.  She  crushes  manufac- 
tories in  the  Island  that  tire  sugar  and  tobacco  money 
may  go  for  the  Spanish  manufactures  and  the  extension 
of  the  commerce  of  Cadiz  and  Barcelona. 


56  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Here  are  two  capital  mistakes,  one  political,  the  other 
economical,  and  between  them  is  immense  injustice  and 
intolerable  oppression.  The  favored  culture  of  sugar  and 
tobacco  has  also  been  fruitful  of  difficulties  that  first 
appeared  in  comparatively  mild  forms  of  disorder, 
until  at  last  the  question  arises  in  the  present  state  of 
the  country,  whether  the  liberty  denied  to  petition, 
remonstrance,  argument — to  warfare  within  the  lines  of 
civilization — can  be  won  by  carrying  fire  with  the 
sword,  and  rearing  the  edifice  of  independence  upon  a 
smoking  desert.  This  is  a  great  matter — whether  the 
tree  of  liberty  will  thrive  and  bloom  growing  in  bloody 
ashes ;  and  the  stories  of  personal  outrages  and  the 
romantic  fictions,  that  are  given  to  the  world  in  the  offi- 
cial reports  of  the  Spanish  Government,  and  in  the  gos- 
sip of  the  Cubans,  that  though  full  of  true  incidents  is 
yet  distorted  and  discolored,  until  the  weariness  of 
misunderstanding  overcomes  the  faculties  of  persever- 
ance and  discrimination,  and  so  much  is  said  that 
little  is  known — should  cease  to  be  of  the  highest 
interest. 

The  present  war  in  Cuba  is  the  second  and  enlarged 
edition  of  that  which  raged  from  1868  to  1878,  origin- 
ating in  the  same  grievances  of  the  Cubans  and  the 
same  abuses  of  government  by  the  Spaniards.  The 
ten  years'  war  was  of  like  character  with  this,  in  the 
conduct  of  hostilities,  and  the  leading  men  on  both 
sides  in  the  two  wars  are  the  same.  There  were 
the  roving  bands  of  insurgents  and  pursuing  columns 
of  Spaniards  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  as  now  ;  the 
same  strong  Spanish  lines  across  the  Island — the  same, 
deadly  skirmishing  and  deadlier  fevers — the  same  de- 
plorable incidents,  exasperation  and  exhaustion. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  57 

Martinez  Campos  and  Maximo  Gomez  were  the 
great  figures  at  the  close  of  that  war  as  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this,  but  there  is  the  change  always  to  be  con- 
sidered that  the  area  of  strife  is  extended,  and  the 
destruction  of  life  and  property  has  been  vastly  aug- 
mented. Then  but  three  of  the  six  provinces  were  par- 
tially laid  waste,  now  the  whole  extent  of  the  Island  is 
devastated.  There  is  about  the  same  proportion  of 
forces  now  as  then.  Both  armies  have  in  numbers  been 
multiplied  by  three,  and  the  insurgents  have  gained  in 
confidence,  and  in  the  freedom  with  which  they  apply 
the  torch.  Then  they  were  comparatively  conservative 
in  dealing  with  the  plantations  that  they  occupied — 
now,  when  they  have  traversed  the  lands  that  are  the 
sources  of  wealth,  they  have  become  destroyers,  until- 
we  may  assume — indeed  we  cannot  do  otherwise — that 
the  sugar  and  tobacco  crops  are  at  an  end  while 
the  war  lasts,  and  the  whole  country  is  frightfully 
impoverished,  and  seems  falling  into  an  abyss. 

When  we  consider  how  intense  were  the  sufferings  in 
the  ten  years'  war,  how  numerous  the  losses,  and  com- 
pare what  was  done  then  with  what  is  going  on  now, 
we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  this  war  is  so  destructive,  so 
consumes  men  and  money,  and  annihilates  industry, 
that  it  cannot  endure — that  one  year  now  is  equal  in 
extirpation  of  civilization  and  the  consumption  of 
all  the  resources  engaged,  to  five  of  the  long  war  ; 
and  upon  this  basis  of  calculation  we  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  in  some  way  the  war  has  but  about  one 
year  to  run. 

Recently  a  Cuban  sympathizer  presented  in  a  brief 
communication  the  corner-stone  of  the  substantial 
Cuban  grievances,  as  follows : 


58  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Should  the  Cubans  allow  the  grinding  of  cane  and  gathering  of  to- 
bacco, it  would  mean  the  exporting  of  that  merchandise,  amounting  to, 
approximately,  $80,000,000.  It  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  Cuban  trade  that  about  every  dollar's  worth  of  merchandise  that 
Cuba  exports  finds  its  way  back  again  in  other  merchandise  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  This  means  that  fully  $80,000,000  of  goods  would  go 
through  the  custom  houses  inwardly,  leaving  with  the  Spanish  treasury  the 
usual  custom  house  dues  on  the  same,  which,  for  ten  years  previous  to  the 
present  trouble,  yielded  $20,000,000  per  annum.  Here  is  just  where  the 
shoe  pinches  the  Spanish  foot.  The  destruction  of  the  sugar  crop,  etc., 
thus  means  to  the  Spanish  treasury  a  loss  of  between  $20,000,000  and 
$25,000,000  instead  of  the  paltry  $450,000,  as  the  Spanish  minister 
would  have  the  people  of  this  country  believe. 

A  Cuban  lecturer  declares  that  Spain  derives  from 
Cuba  from  $50,000,000  to  $60,000,000  annually,  which  is 
rather  vague  for  business,  and  yet  all  the  profit  she  gets  is 
indirect,  through  the  personal  government  carried  on  by 
transitory  favorites,  often  both  corrupt  and  incompetent, 
and  if  able  and  anxious  to  do  well,  subjected  to  a  sys- 
tem of  selfish  extortion,  far  in  excess  of  the  resisting 
forces  of  individual  integrity. 

In  Clarence  King's  pamphlet,  "Shall  Cuba  be  free?" 
he  very  clearly  sketches  the  first  flagrancy  of  discordant 
relations  between  Spain  and  Cuba — the  time  in  the 
administration  of  Tacon,  sixty  years  ago.  Mr.  King  says: 
"General  Tacon  was  the  instrument  of  Spanish  greed  in 
Cuba,  a  soldier  of  violence  and  ignorance,  who  came  to 
the  captain-generalcy  embittered  from  a  failure  to 
encompass  Spanish  ends  in  South  America.  Tacon 
was  a  true  type  of  the  Spanish  oppressor,  born  with  a 
contempt  for  all  other  than  force  and  hardened  by  the 
omnipotence  of  his  Spanish  commission."  It  was  when 
this  soldier  was  in  full  power  that  the  news  of  the 
Constitution,  proclaimed  in  Spain,  reached  Cuba,  Sep- 


GENERAI,  MARTINEZ  CAMPOS, 
Former  Governor  General  of  Cuba 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  6 1 

tember  27,  1836,  and  a  movement  was  made  by 
Cubans  to  secure  their  just  share  of  the  Hberties  ac- 
corded Spaniards,  but  Tacon  ordered  that  there  should 
not  be  the  slightest  change  without  his  express  orders. 
Now  Tacon  was  serving  under  a  royal  commission 
that  contained  this  language:  "for  the  important  end 
of  preserving  in  that  precious  Island  (Cuba)  his  legit- 
imate sovereign  authority  and  public  tranquility  through 
proper  means,  has  resolved,  in  accordance  with  the 
opinion  of  his  council  of  ministers,  to  give  to  your  Excel- 
lency the  fullest  authority,  bestowing  upon  you  all  the 
powers  which  by  royal  ordinances  are  granted  to  the 
governors  of  beseiged  cities.  In  consequence  of  this 
His  Majesty  gives  to  your  Excellency  the  most  com- 
plete and  unbounded  power." 

There  was  nothing  that  Tacon  was  not  authorized  or 
that  he  scrupled  to  do,  and  his  action  in  putting  his 
foot  on  the  liberties  of  Cuba  was  confirmed  by  the 
Spanish  Cortes  in  these  terms : 

The  Cortes,  using  the  power  which  is  conceded  to  them  by  the  Con- 
stitution, have  decreed:  not  being  in  a  position  to  apply  the  Constitu- 
tion which  has  been  adopted  for  the  Peninsula  and  adjacent  to  the 
Ultra  Marine  province  of  America  and  Asia,  these  shall  be  ruled  and 
administered  by  special  laws  appropriate  to  their  respective  situations 
and  circumstances,  and  proper  to  cause  their  happiness  consequently, 
the  deputies  for  the  designated  provinces  are  not  to  take  their  seats  in 
the  present  Cortes. 

The  ten  years'  war  in  Cuba  the  more  interested  the 
United  States  because  we  had  abolished  slavery  by 
the  war  process,  and  the  same  work  was  done  in 
Cuba  in  the  same  way,  only  that  the  slaves  were 
more  active  than  with  us,  in  the  use  of  arms  to 
secure  th^ir   freedom.    The   Manifesto  of   the  Cuban 


52  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

revolutionary  party  that  has  been  most  extensively 
circulated  in  the  United  States  says  that  before  the  out- 
break in  1868,  the  reform  party,  which  included  the 
most  enlightened,  wealthy  and  influential  Cubans,  ex- 
hausted all  the  resources  within  their  reach  to  induce 
Spain  to  initiate  a  healthy  change  in  her  Cuban  policy. 
The  party  started  the  publication  of  periodicals  in 
Madrid  and  in  the  Island,  addressed  petitions,  main- 
tained a  great  agitation  throughout  the  country,  and 
"  having  succeeded  in  leading  the  Spanish  Government 
to  make  inquiry  into  the  economical,  political  and 
social  condition  of  Cuba,  they  presented  a  complete 
plan  of  government  which  satisfied  public  requirements 
as  well  as  the  aspirations  of  the  people.  The  Spanish 
Government  disdainfully  cast  aside  the  proposition  as 
useless,  increased  taxation,  and  proceeded  to  its  exact- 
tion  with  extreme  severity." 

It  is  not  unusual  as  the  present  war  is  discussed  with 
Spaniards,  for  them  to  admit  that  the  Cubans,  in  1868, 
had  real  grievances,  and  fought  well,  as  they  say,  to 
gain  a  true  reformation.  The  same  men  now  affirm 
there  is  nothing  honest  in  the  present  war  to  fight 
about. 

Mr.  Clarence  King  says  slavery  was  practically  killed 
by  the  ten  years'  war,  and  "Campos  only  bound  Spain 
to  publish  the  death  notice.  The  main  concession  for 
which  the  insurgents  accepted  peace  was  the  promise 
of  constitutional  reform.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there 
promptly  followed  four  royal  decrees  as  follows:  June 
9th,  entitling  Cuba  to  elect  deputies  to  the  Cortes,  one 
for  each  40,000  people;  June  9th,  dividing  the  Island  into 
the  present  six  provinces;  June  21,  instituting  a  system 
of  provincial  and  municipal  government,  followed  on 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  63 

August  1 6th  by  the  necessary  electoral  regulations.  But 
the  system  was  immediately  seen  to  be  the  shadow  with- 
out the  substance  of  self-government.  The  Provincial 
Assembly  could  nominate  only  three  candidates  for  pre- 
siding officer.  It  was  the  inevitable  governor-general 
who  had  the  power  to  appoint,  not  necessarily  one  of  the 
three  nominees,  but  any  member  of  the  Assembly  he 
chose.  But  all  this  provincial  machinery  is  in  reality 
an  empty  form,  since  expressly  by  law  the  governor- 
general  was  given  the  power  to  prorogue  tKe  assem- 
blies at  will.  The  deputies  have  never  been  able  to 
accomplish  anything  in  the  Cortes.  Moreover,  the  crux 
of  the  whole  financial  oppression — tariff,  taxes,  and 
absolute  control  and  expenditure  of  the  revenue — re- 
mained with  Spain." 

The  revolutionary  manifesto  says,  the  compact  Spain 
proposed  with  the  Cubans  through  Campos,  the  accep- 
tance of  which  closed  the  struggle — Campos  duly  re- 
turning to  Spain  and  Gomez  retiring  to  San  Domingo — 
"was  a  snare  and  deceit."  Cuba  being  "granted  the 
liberties  of  Porto  Rico,  which  had  none,"  and  the 
manifesto  continues  : 

"  On  this  deceitful  ground  was  laid  the  new  situation, 
throughout  which  has  run  a  current  of  falsehood  and 
hypocrisy.  Spain,  whose  mind  had  not  changed, 
hastened  to  change  the  name  of  things.  The  captain- 
general  was  called  governor-general.  The  royal  de- 
crees took  the  name  of  authorizations.  The  commercial 
monopoly  of  Spain  was  named  coasting  trade.  The 
right  of  banishment  was  transformed  into  the  law  of 
vagrancy.  The  brutal  attacks  of  defenseless  citizens 
were  called  'componte.'  The  abolition  of  constitu- 
tional  guarantees   became    the   law   of    public   order. 


64  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Taxation  without  the  consent  or  knowledge  of  the 
Cuban  people  was  changed  into  the  law  of  estimates 
(budget)  voted  by  the  representatives  of  Spain. 

"The  painful  lesson  of  the  ten-year  war  had  been  en- 
tirely lost  on  Spain.  Instead  of  inaugurating  a  redeeming 
policy  that  would  heal  the  recent  wounds,  allay  public 
anxiety,  and  quench  the  thirst  for  justice  felt  by  the 
people,  who  are  desirous  to  enjoy  their  natural  rights, 
the  metropolis,  while  lavish  in  promises  of  reform,  per- 
sisted in  carrying  on,  unchanged,  its  old  and  crafty 
system,  the  groundwork  of  which  continues  to  be  the 
same,  namely  :  To  exclude  every  native  Cuban  from 
every  office  that  could  give  him  any  effective  influence 
and  intervention  in  public  affairs  ;  the  ungovernable 
exploitation  of  the  colonists'  labor  for  the  benefit  of 
Spanish  commerce  and  Spanish  bureaucracy,  both  civil 
and  military.  To  carry  out  the  latter  purpose  it  was 
necessary  to  maintain  the  former  at  any  cost." 

The  chapter  of  historical  indictment  of  Spain,  charg- 
ing upon  her  the  blood  of  Cuba,  that  is  most  lurid  is 
"  The  Book  of  Blood — An  Authoritative  Record,"  and  it 
does  not  need  that  the  words  "  Book  of  Blood  "  should 
be  printed  in  red  ink,  as  is  the  rule,  to  make  it  horrible. 
It,  according  to  the  title  page,  records  "  the  policy 
adopted  by  modern  Spain  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  for 
the  independence  of  Cuba,"  and  the  date  of  publication 
is  1873,  showing  that  it  was  issued  in  the  midst  of  the 
ten  years'  conflict,  and  purports  to  give  the  earlier  parts 
of  the  story  of  that  protracted  struggle. 

"  The  Book  of  Blood"  opens  with  a  reference  to  the 
Virginius  massacre,  and  promises  a  rough  sketch  of  the 
carnival  of  blood  that  took  place  "  during  the  govern- 
ments of  Generals  Lersundi,  Dwlce,  Caballero  de  Rodas, 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  65 

Ceballos,  Pieltain  and,  last  but  not  least,  Jovellar,  those 
three  last  being  representatives  of  the  Spanish  Repub- 
lic." This  remark  about  the  representatives  of  the 
Spanish  Republic  requires  the  comment  that  in  the  con- 
tests for  liberty  in  Spain  there  has  not  been  the  brotherly 
disposition  one  would  expect  in  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Peninsula  to  share  with  those  of  the  Island,  and  the 
sense  of  wrong  thus  aroused  in  Cubans  has  been  a  very 
influential  element  in  feeding  the  fires  of  insurrection. 
The  bulk  of  the  dreadful  book  is  occupied  with  the 
names  of  the  dead  who  have  died  for  the  cause  of 
Cuba.  The  frightful  lists  have  every  appearance  of 
authority,  and  are  fortified  by  convincing  documents. 
There  is  a  reserve  in  paragraphs  of  the  preface  which 
is  all  the  more  startling  because  standing  in  the  midst 
of  denunciations  without  qualification.    We  quote: 

We  adjoin  a  note  of  those  delivered  by  the  captain-general  to  the  mili- 
tary courts  as  guilty  of  treason.  We  do  not  know  the  exact  fate  of  those 
unfortunates.  It  is  known,  however,  that  many  of  them  have  mysteri- 
ously disappeared,  and  their  families  are  sure  that  they  have  found  an 
obscure  grave  in  the  burial  grounds  of  the  Cabana  or  El  Principe. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  give  a  table  of  the  crimes  committed  in  Havana 
and  elsewhere,  such  for  example  as  those  at  the  theatre  of  Villanueva, 
the  coffee  house  of  the  Louvre,  the  butchery  of  Cohner,  Greenwald  and 
many  like  cases:  or  the  transcendentally  treacherous  killing  of  Augusto 
Arango  under  a  flag  of  truce.  Neither  shall  we  attempt  to  catalogue  the 
murders  committed  by  the  brutal  soldiery  in  the  country,  the  indiscrim- 
inate slaughter  of  defenseless  men,  women  and  children,  the  rapes,  the 
obscene  mutilations  and  the  cruelties  of  every  kind  perpetrated  in  our 
unhappy  country  by  the  scourges  of  America:  those  are  personal  crimes 
which  we  do  not  deem  just  to  charge  upon  a  whole  people. 

The  "  Book  of  Blood  "  claims  for  the  Cubans  all  the  hu- 
manities, and  says  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  they 
took  many  Spanish  prisoners  at  Bayamo  and  paroled 


66  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

them,  but  were  rewarded  by  treachery  and  cruelty  ;  and 
the  indictment  reads  : 

Meanwhile  in  all  parts  of  the  Island  no  Cuban  taken  prisoner  of  war 
was  spared;  to  a  man  they  were  shot  on  the  spot  as  so  many  dogs. 
Nevertheless,  up  to  August,  1869,  many  Spanish  prisoners  of  war  were 
captured  and  not  executed  by  the  Cubans. 

Then  the  insurgent  General  Quesada,  threatened  retal- 
iation, and  in  October,  1869,  when  the  war  had  lasted 
a  year,  and  the  Spanish  adhered  to  the  policy  of  shoot- 
ing prisoners,  the  matter  was  "brought  to  the  notice  of 
the  Cuban  leaders,"  and  it  was  ordered  that  sixty-seven 
men  who  were  in  the  Cuban  army  and  had  engaged 
in  a  conspiracy  "  to  revolt  under  circumstances  of 
peculiar  atrocity"  should  be  executed,  and  they  "were 
accordingly  executed."  The  conspiritors  had  enlisted 
with  the  purpose  of  turning  over  to  the  Spanish  Gen- 
eral Puello  the  rebel  chieftains.  The  official  organ 
in  Havana  said:  "Our  officers  and  the  Cubans  compro- 
mised in  the  counter-revolution  were  shot,  thus  sealing 
with  their  lives  their  devotion  to  their  beloved  mother- 
country." 

It  is  necessary  in  this  connection  to  give  the  cele- 
brated Valmaseda  proclamation  : 

Inhabitants  of  the  country  !  The  re-enforcements  of  troops  that  I 
have  been  waiting  for  have  arrived  ;  with  them  I  shall  give  protection  to 
the  good,  and  punish  promptly  those  that  still  remain  in  rebellion  against 
the  government  of  the  metropolis. 

You  know  that  I  have  pardoned  those  that  have  fought  u5  with  arms  ; 
that  your  wives,  mothers,  and  sisters  have  found  me  in  the  unexpected 
protection  that  you  have  refused  them.  You  know,  also,  that  many  of 
those  I  have  pardoned  have  turned  against  us  again. 

Before  such  ingratitude,  such  villany,  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  be 
the  man  that  I  have  been  ;  there  is  no  longer  a  place  for  a  falsified  neu- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  6y 

trality  ;  he  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me,  and  that  my  soldiers  may 
know  how  to  distinguish,  you  hear  the  order  they  carry  : 

I  St.  Every  man,  from  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  upward,  found  away 
from  his  habitation,  (finca)  and  does  not  prove  a  justified  motive  there- 
for, will  be  shot. 

2d.  Every  habitation  unoccupied  will  be  burned  by  the  troops. 

3d.  Every  habitation  from  which  does  not  float  a  white  flag,  as  a  sig- 
nal that  its  occupants  desire  peace,  will  be  reduced  to  ashes. 

Women  that  are  not  living  at  their  own  homes,  or  at  the  house  of  their 
relatives,  will  collect  in  the  town  of  Jiguani,  or  Bayamo,  where  mainte- 
nance will  be  provided.  Those  who  do  not  present  themselves  will  be 
conducted  forcibly. 

The  foregoing  determinations  will  commence  to  take  effect  on  the 
14th  of  the  present  month.  El  Conde  de  Valmaseda. 

Bayamo,  April  4,  1869. 

Secretary  Fish,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Hale,  Minister  to 
Spain,  May  11,  1869,  protested  "  against  the  infamous 
proclamation  of  General,  the  Count  of  Valmaseda." 
Diacio  de  la  Mariana  of  Havana  is  quoted  as  saying", 
May  9th  : 

"  Said  proclamation  does  not  even  reach  what  is  required  by  the  neces- 
sities of  war  in  the  most  civilized  nations." 

There  has  been  much  bitter  denunciation  of  Spain 
in  the  conduct  of  the  Cuban  wars,  that  has  not  had 
the  vitality  of  the  terrible  preface  of  the  "  Book  of 
Blood,"  because  that  which  gives  power  to  the  volume 
is  the  astonishing  array  of  specifications — names,  dates, 
circumstances — furnished  in  many  cases  by  Spanish 
authorities. 

The  Edinburg  Review  of  January,  1873,  contains  an 
elaborate  statement  of  the  grievances  and  hostilities  in 
Cuba,  throwing  light  on  the  long  war,  which  is  the  pivot 
on  which  the  histories  of  Cuban  sorrows  turn.  The 
Review  says  : 


68  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  revolution  in  the  mother-country  in  September,  1868,  which  drove 
the  Bourbon  dynasty  from  the  throne,  seems  to  have  precipitated  the 
insurrection  in  Cuba.  It  was  natural  that  it  should  have  stirred  men's 
minds  in  the  colony  at  a  time,  especially  when  all  were  looking  forward 
eagerly  to  the  inauguration  of  political  reforms,  or  to  an  attempt  to 
shake  off  the  pressing  weight  of  Spanish  rule.  The  first  hope  seems  to 
have  been  that  the  new  government  would  ameliorate  the  condition  of 
the  colony,  in  which  still  a  not  unimportant  party  clung  to  the  desire 
for  such  reforms  as  would  enable  them  to  remain  connected  with  the 
country  of  which  they  had  so  long  formed  a  part.  This  hope  was  dis- 
appointed, and  the  insurgents  did  not  wait  long  before  they  took  action. 

The  standard  of  revolt  was  at  length  raised  by  Carlos  Manuel  de  Ces- 
pedes,  on  his  estate  of  Demajagua,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  town  of 
Yara,  in  the  eastern  department.  Cespedes  was  known  as  an  able  law- 
yer and  wealthy  planter,  and  he  was  not  slow  in  attracting  to  himself  a 
respectable  following.  At  first  he  found  himself  at  the  head  of  but  a 
small  number  of  patriots,  and  all  his  more  trustworthy  slaves,  the  latter 
of  whom  he  liberated  on  the  spot.  He  was  soon  joined  by  his  friend, 
Aguilera,  and  the  two  then  decided  that  they  would  never  abandon  the 
cause  until  they  had  freed  the  Island  from  Spanish  rule,  and  rendered 
it  independent.  Their  army  was  small  and  ill-provided;  at  first  it  con- 
sisted of  but  147  men,  with  but  forty-five  fowling-pieces,  four  rifles,  a 
few  pistols  and  the  long  country  knives,  or  machetes,  as  their  sole  arm- 
ament. In  three  days  the  districts  of  Bayamo,  Manzanillo,  Jiguani,  and 
Las  Tunas  joined  the  insurrection,  and  Cespedes's  army  was  increased 
to  the  number  of  four  thousand  men;  at  the  end  of  the  month  it  num- 
bered over  nine  thousand. 

The  first  steps  of  Cespedes  had  been  to  seize  the  town  of  Yara.  On 
the  13th,  three  days  after  the  outbreak,  the  insurgents  came  into  collis- 
ion with  the  government  troops,  and  got  the  best  of  the  encounter.  On 
the  15th  they  prepared  to  attack  Bayamo,  an  important  town  of  ten  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  On  the  i8th  the  town  fell  into  their  hands,  and  Ces- 
pedes established  in  it  the  revolutionary  government.  The  leaders  had 
published  at  Manzanillo,  with  the  date  of  October  loth,  a  Declaration 
of  Independence,  which  document  runs  as  follows  : 

In  arming  ourselves  against  the  tyrannical  government  of  Spain,  we 
must,  according  to  precedent  in  all  civilized  countries,  proclaim  before 
the  world  the  cause  that  impels  us  to  take  this  step,  which,  though  likely 
to  entail  considerable  disturbances  upon  the  present,  will  ensure  the 
happiness  of  the  future. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  69 

It  is  well  known  that  Spain  governs  the  island  of  Cuba  with  an  iron 
and  blood-stained  hand.  The  former  holds  the  latter  deprived  of  polit- 
ical, civil,  and  religious  liberty.  Hence  the  unfortunate  Cubans  being 
illegally  prosecuted  and  sent  into  exile,  or  executed  by  military  com- 
missions in  time  of  peace  ;  hence  their  being  kept  from  public  meeting, 
and  forbidden  to  speak  or  write  on  affairs  of  State  :  hence  their  remon- 
strances against  the  evils  that  afflict  them  being  looked  upon  as  the 
proceedings  of  rebels,  from  the  fact  that  they  are  bound  to  keep  silence 
and  obey  ;  hence  the  never-ending  plague  of  hungry  officials  from  Spain 
to  devour  the  product  of  their  industry  and  labor  ;  hence  their  exclu- 
sion from  public  stations,  and  want  of  opportunity  to  fit  themselves  for 
the  art  of  government  ;  hence  the  restrictions  to  which  public  instruc- 
tion with  them  is  subjected,  in  order  to  keep  them  so  ignorant  as  not  to 
be  able  to  know  and  enforce  their  rights  in  any  shape  or  form  whatever  ; 
hence  the  navy  and  the  standing  army,  which  are  kept  in  their  country 
at  an  enormous  expenditure  from  their  own  wealth,  to  make  them  bend 
their  knees  and  submit  their  necks  to  the  iron  yoke  that  disgraces  them  ; 
hence  the  grinding  taxation  under  which  they  labor,  and  which  would 
make  them  all  perish  in  misery  but  for  the  marvelous  fertility  of  their 
soil. 


70  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA, 


CHAPTER   IV. 

SPANISH    STORY    OF    THE    TREATY    OF    ZANJON. 

Was  the  Famous  Compact  that  Closed  the  Ten  Years'  War  Fairly  Drawn 
and  Honorably  Executed,  or  a  Sham  with  Nothing  for  Cuba  in  it? — 
The  Side  of  Spain  Set  Forth  on  the  Highest  Authority,  with  Citations 
of  the  Reform  Laws  and  the  Liberal  Autonomist  Circular. 

The  principle  interest  the  ten  years'  war  has  for 
Americans,  after  the  bloody  chapter  of  the  Virginius 
Massacre,  is  in  the  nature  of  the  treaty  by  which  it 
was  closed,  and  the  extent  to  which  that  compact  was 
observed  or  disregarded  ;  the  good  faith  that  was  in  it 
or  was  lacking ;  its  terms  and  the  policy  that  was  its 
consequence.  This  is  but  another  way  of  stating  that 
upon  the  fact  of  the  nature  and  observance  of  the 
treaty  of  Zanjon  turns  the  justice  or  the  wantonness 
of  the  war  now  raging  in  Cuba.  If  that  treaty  was 
fair,  if  it  was  honest,  and  has  been  honorably  observed, 
the  Cuban  insurrection  was  unwarranted  ;  if  it  was  a 
cheat,  and  its  administration  a  scandal,  the  insurrection 
was  demanded,  and,  upon  the  presumption  of  Cuban 
manhood,  inevitable. 

We  have  given  the  Cuban  indictment  of  Spain  on 
this  subject,  not  in  detail  but  in  substance  and  full 
force,  and  that  there  may  be  fair  play,  we  present 
the  Spanish  side,  and  are  enabled  to  do  it  on  the  highest 
authority.  We  have  from  one  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Spanish  government  and  zealous  and  able  in  the  de- 
fense of  Spain — his  country — this  summary  : 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  7 1 

Article  3d.  The  only  political  condition  set  forth  in  the  treaty  says  : 
The  Spanish  government  will  promulgate  in  Cuba  the  laws  in  vigor  in 
Porto  Rico.  Two  months  less  two  days  after  Maceo  left  Cuba,  all  the 
laws  were  enforced,  and  since  then,  following  the  pace  of  the  liberal 
and  democratic  reform  in  Spain,  both  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  are  to  re- 
ceive liberal  laws  exactly  like  those  of  Spain.  The  Island  is  represented 
by  sixty-four  senators  and  deputies,  the  enfranchisement  being  given 
to  those  paying $25.00  taxes  down  to  those  who  pay  only  $5.00,  until  the 
Home  Rule  bill  was  voted  just  before  the  Revolution  started. 

The  Spanish  minister  recently  communicated  to  his 
government  the  desire  that  there  should  be  placed  in 
convenient  form,  and  translated  into  English,  the  text 
of  the  various  legal  enactments  showing  the  true  char- 
acter of  the  laws  relative  to  Cuba  adopted  within  the 
years  since  the  treaty  of  El  Zanjon,  and  the  asssistant 
colonial  secretary  has  addressed  to  His  Excellency, 
Don  Enrique  Dupuy  de  Lome,  a  statement,  from  which 
we  quote  the  essential  points  of  the  defense  with  which 
Spain  confronts  the  public  opinion  of  the  world  : 

STATEMENT    BY    THE    ASSISTANT    COLONIAL    SECRETARY    OF 

SPAIN. 

Since  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  at  El  Zanjon  the  political  regime  of 
Cuba  has  been  entirely  transformed,  such  full  liberty  having  been  estab- 
lished, and  so  generous  a  policy  of  assimilation  having  been  introduced 
there,  that  no  other  example  could  certainly  be  cited  of  so  much  having 
been  done  by  any  mother-country  for  its  colonies  in  so  short  a  space  of 
time.  I  say  this  in  reference  to  the  laws,  and  this,  surely,  has  nowhere 
been  more  eloquently  recognized  than  in  the  address  of  the  Junta  of  the 
Autonomist  party  to  the  people  of  Cuba  at  the  commencement  of  the 
insurrection. 

The  law  of  July  4th,  1870,  declared  that  children  born  after  that  date, 
of  parents  who  were  slaves,  those  who  had  already,  or  should  subse- 
quently, reach  the  age  of  sixty  years,  and  those  who  had  served,  or  as- 
sisted, the  troops  during  the  insurrection  in  Cuba,  were  free.  They  all 
remained  under  patronage,  the  patron  having  the  rights  of  a  guardian 
C-5 


72  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

until  the  emancipated  person  had  reached  the  age  of  twenty-two  years. 
In  the  capitulation  of  El  Zanjon,  the  insurgents  stipulated  only  for  the 
freedom  of  those  slaves  who  had  served  in  their  ranks. 

The  law  of  February  13th,  1880,  put  an  end  to  slavery  in  the  island 
of  Cuba,  declaring  all,  without  distincton,  to  be  free.  The  patronage 
was  to  last  for  five  years,  and  to  be  discontinued  from  the  expiration  of 
the  fifth  until  the  eighth  year  (1888),  when  it  was  to  be  entirely  abol- 
ished. 

Two  years,  however,  before  that  time  had  expired,  the  negroes  were 
set  at  liberty  by  the  decree  of  October  7th,  1886,  which  declared  the 
patronate  terminated.     The  last  vestige  of  slavery  was  thus  obliterated. 

It  thus  appears  that,  in  this  highly  important  point,  the  laws  enacted 
for  Cuba  granted  more  than  had  been  called  for  by  the  capitulation  of 
1878,  and  that  what  was  offered  by  that  instrument  was  carried  out  be- 
fore the  time  therein  provided  for  had  expired, 

CONSTITUTION. 

The  Constitution  of  1876  was  promulgated  in  the  island  of  Cuba  on 
the  7th  day  of  April,  1881.  All  public  liberties  and  all  the  rights  of 
citizenship  were  thereby  granted  to  the  island,  and  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  this  promulgation  involved  for  the  island  the  following  essential 
change  in  its  political  regime :  laws  were  thenceforth  enacted  for  it  by 
the  representatives  of  the  nation,  whereas  it  had  previously  been  gov- 
erned by  direct  orders  from  the  crown. 

Since  that  time  Cuba  has  been  represented  in  the  Cortes  of  the  nation 
by  its  senators  and  representatives. 

The  royal  decree  of  October  19,  1888,  provided  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  law  concerning  criminal  prosecution.  In  this  law  provision  is  made 
for  a  highly  important  reform,  viz.  :  the  institution  of  oral  trials  in  pub- 
lic, which  had  very  shortly  before  been  established  in  Spain. 

Among  the  principal  political  laws  whereby  the  principles  of  liberty 
inscribed  in  the  Constitution  have  been  developed,  the  following  may  be 
cited  : 

By  the  royal  decree  of  November  ist,  1881  (Gaceta  of  November 
loth),  the  law  of  June  T5th,  1880,  was  made  to  embrace  the  island  of 
Cuba.  That  law  regulates  the  right  of  meeting  proclaimed  in  Article  13 
of  the  Constitution,  every  peaceful  meeting  being  authorized,  provided 
that  notice  be  given  twenty-four  hours  beforehand  to  the  Governor  of 
the  Province  concerning  the  place,  purpose  and  time  of  the  meeting. 


CANOVAS  DEL  CASTILLO, 
Prime  Minister  of  Spain. 

ENRIQUE  DUPUY  DE  LOME,  HANNIS  TAYLOR, 

Spanish  Minister  to  the  United  States.         ( '3)  United  States  Minister  to  Spain. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  75 

The  law  of  the  Peninsula  of  January  7th,  1879,  was  made  applicable 
to  Cuba  by  the  royal  decree  of  April  7th,  1881,  and  when  that  law  was 
amended  in  a  more  liberal  sense  by  the  law  of  July  26th,  1883,  the  addi- 
tional liberty  thus  provided  for  was  extended  to  Cuba  by  the  decree  of 
November  nth,  1886.  The  principle  was  maintained  that  the  provi- 
sions of  the  common  law  are  sufficient  to  punish  offenses  of  the  press, 
and  that  the  ordinary  courts  are  sufficient  to  take  cognizance  thereof. 

THE    LAW    CONCERNING    THE    CIVIL    REGISTER,  AND  THE    LAW 
CONCERNING    CIVIL    MARRIAGES. 

The  former  of  these  laws,  which  bears  date  of  January  8th,  1884,  and 
the  latter,  which  bears  date  of  November  13th,  1886,  were  supplementary 
in  providing  for  the  religious  toleration  which  is  proclaimed  by  the  con- 
stitution in  its  nth  Article. 

PROVINCIAL    AND    MUNICIPAL    ORGANIZATION. 

The  provincial  law  of  June  21st,  1878,  and  the  municipal  law  of  the 
same  date,  are  organic  laws.  The  colonial  provinces  were  assimilated 
by  these  laws  to  the  European  provinces,  for  said  laws  were  the  same 
that  were  then  in  force  in  the  peninsula.  Representatives  and  town 
boards  were  provided  for  where  only  the  historical  municipalities  with 
their  alienable  offices,  and  a  whole  regime  of  privileges  had  previously 
existed.  The  local  services  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  representa- 
tives. The  services,  included  roads,  canals  (both  for  navigation  and 
irrigation),  provincial  public  works,  works  of  beneficence  and  instruc- 
tion, together  with  the  management  of  all  the  provincial  funds.  To  the 
town  boards  were  granted  similar  powers  with  respect  to  highways,  sew- 
ers, water,  markets,  slaughter-houses,  fairs,  vigilance,  guard  duty,  and 
municipal  government, 

REFORMS    IN    THE     RIGHT    OF    SUFFRAGE. 

These  reforms  have  also  been  extended  to  Cuba.  Universal  suffrage 
not  having  been  granted,  solely  owing  to  the  great  difficulty  existing 
everywhere  where  the  negro  race  is  in  the  majority,  or  where  it  may  exert 
a  decisive  influence  in  elections.  The  law  concerning  voters  in  election 
for  representatives  in  the  Cortes,  which  was  promulgated  by  the  royal 
decree  of  December  27th,  1892,  provides  that  every  citizen  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  who  pays  the  sum  of  five  dollars   in  taxes  to  the  State, 


76  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  and  this  right  is  enjoyed  by  negroes  as  well 
as  white  persons.  All  the  quotas  paid  for  various  reasons  are  computed, 
and  the  sum  thereof  is  that  which  serves  as  a  rule  in  determining  this 
right. 

In  this  law  there  are  likewise  provisions  which  secures  the  representa- 
tion of  the  minority  in  elections  of  representatives  to  the  Cortes.  This 
is  a  very  important  reform,  and  its  extension  to  the  election  of  repre- 
sentatives and  members  of  town  boards  is  one  of  the  many  reforms  pro- 
claimed in  principle  by  the  "basis"  of  March  15th,  1895,  the  enforce- 
ment of  which  is  now  pending. 

The  provisions  relative  to  education  form  a  highly  important  group. 

OFFICIAL    EDUCATION. 

As  long  ago  as  1880  autonomy  was  granted  to  the  University  of 
Habana,  and  such  ample  provisions  were  granted  to  it  that  but  one  uni- 
versity in  the  peninsula  (that  of  Madrid)  enjoys  privileges  equally  great. 
The  power  to  appoint  both  male  and  female  teachers,  up  to  a  certain 
grade  in  the  island,  was  subsequently  granted  to  the  rector  of  that  uni- 
versity. Institutions  of  secondary  education  were  organized  in  1883,  and 
high  schools  were  organized  throughout  the  island.  Finally,  in  1887, 
freedom  of  education  was  proclaimed  to  the  same  extent  and  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  the  peninsula. 

There  is  thus  no  reason  in  Cuba  to  complain  of  the  illiberality  of  the  laws. 
If  there  has  been  any  shortcoming  in  respect  to  morals,  the  nation  is  not 
to  blame;  none  but  the  colonial  provinces  are  to  blame  for  this;  if  we 
proposed  to  seek  comfort  in  comparisons,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
look  for  them  in  South  America,  in  the  countries  that  have  emancipated 
themselves  from  the  Spanish  mother-country,  because  examples  (some 
of  them  very  recent)  of  acts  of  violence,  anarchy  and  scandalous  out- 
breaks could  be  found  in  the  States  of  the  Union  itself. 

In  respect  to  another  matter,  a  great  deal  of  foolish  talk  is  indulged 
in.  From  the  statements  of  some  people  it  would  appear  that  Cuba 
does  nothing  but  contribute,  by  the  taxes  which  it  pays,  to  alleviate 
the  burdens  of  the  peninsular  treasury;  whereas,  in  reality,  just  the 
contrary  is  the  truth.  The  nation  has,  of  late,  guaranteed  the  conversion 
of  Spanish  debts  in  Cuba,  which  took  place  in  1886  and  1890.  Owing 
to   these   operations,    and    to  the    fact    that  all  taxes   which   did  not 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  jy 

have  to  be  met  directly  by  its  government  have  been  rigorously  elim- 
inated from  the  budget  of  Cuba,  it  was  possible  to  reduce  the  Cuban 
budget  from  forty-six  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars,  which  was  its 
amount  at  the  close  of  the  former  war  (for  the  fiscal  year  1878-79),  to 
a  little  more  than  twenty-three  millions  of  dollars,  as  appears  from  the 
budget  of  1893. 

The  financial  laws  have  been  assimilated,  and  if  the  system  of  taxation 
has  not  been  entirely  assimilated,  this  is  because  of  the  fact  that  direct 
taxes  are  very  repugnant  to  the  popular  feeling  in  Cuba,  especially  the 
tax  on  land,  which  is  the  basis  of  the  Peninsular  budget.  It  appears, 
however,  that  our  Cuban  brethren  have  had  no  reason  to  complain  in 
this  respect.  The  direct  tax  on  rural  property  is  two  per  cent,  in  Cuba, 
whereas  in  Spain  it  is  seventeen,  and  even  twenty  per  cent.  It  is  evident 
that  every  budget  must  be  based  upon  something ;  in  Cuba,  as  in  all 
countries  in  which  the  natural  conditions  are  similar,  that  something 
must  necessarily  be  the  income  from  customs  duties.  Notwithstanding 
this,  it  may  be  remarked  that  in  the  years  when  the  greatest  financial 
distress  prevailed,  the  Spanish  Government  never  hesitated  to  sacrifice 
that  income  when  it  was  necessary  to  do  so  in  order  to  meet  the  especial 
need  of  the  principal  agricultural  product  of  Cuba.  Consequently  the 
Spanish  commercial  treaty  with  the  United  States  was  concluded,  which 
certainly  had  not  been  concluded  before,  owing  to  any  fault  of  the  Spanish 
Government.  Under  that  treaty,  the  prfncipal  object  of  which  was  to 
encourage  the  exportation  of  Cuban  sugar,  which  found  its  chief  market 
in  the  States  of  the  Union,  many  Spanish  industries  were  sacrificed 
which  have  formerly  supplied  the  wants  of  the  people  of  Cuba.  That 
sacrifice  was  unhesitatingly  made,  and  now  that  the  treaty  is  no  longer 
in  force,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  new  American  tariff  has  stricken 
sugar  free  from  the  list. 

Attention  may  also  be  called  to  the  fact  that  the  colonial  provinces 
alone  enjoy  exemption  from  the  blood  tax,  Cuba  never  having  been 
obliged  to  furnish  military  recruits. 

The  disqualification  of  the  Cubans  to  hold  public  office  is  purely  a 
myth.  Such  disqualification  is  founded  on  the  text  of  no  law  or  regula- 
tion, and  in  point  of  fact  there  is  no  such  exclusion.  In  order  to  verify 
this  assertion  it  would  be  sufficient  to  examine  the  lists  of  Cuban  officers, 
especially  of  those  employed  in  the  administration  of  justice  and  in  all 
branches  of  instruction.  Even  if  it  were  desired  to  make  a  comparison 
of  political  offices,  even  of  those  connected  with  the  functions  which  are 


78  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

discharged  in  the  Peninsula,  the  proportion  would  still  be  shown  in  which 
Spaniards  in  Cuba  aspire  to  both.  The  fact  is  that  a  common  fallacy  is 
appealed  to  in  the  language  habitually  used  by  the  enemies  of  Spain, 
who  call  persons  "Peninsulars"  who  were  not  born  in  Cuba,  but 
have  resided  there  many  years  and  have  all  their  ties  and  interests  there, 
and  do  not  call  those  "  Cubans  "  who  were  born  there  and  have  left  the 
Island  in  order  to  meet  necessities  connected,  perhaps,  with  their  occu- 
pation. This  was  done  in  the  Senate,  when  the  advocates  of  the  separa- 
tion of  Cuba  only  were  called  "Cubans,"  while  those  only  who  refused 
allegiance  to  the  Spanish  mother-country  were  called  patriots. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  relate  a  fact  which  may  appear  to  be  a  joke,  but 
which,  in  a  certain  way,  furnished  proof  of  what  I  have  just  said.  When 
Rafael  Gasset  returned  from  Habana,  he  came  and  asked  me  for  some 
data  showing  the  proportion  of  Cubans  holding  office  under  our  Govern- 
ment. I  asked  him,  as  a  preliminary  question,  for  a  definition  of  what 
we  were  to  understand  by  "  Cuban  "  and  what  by  "Peninsular;"  he 
immediately  admitted  that  the  decision  of  the  whole  question  was  based 
upon  that  definition,  and  I  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  here,  in 
the  Ministry  of  the  Colonies,  at  the  present  time,  there  are  three  high 
governmental  functionaries.  One  is  a  representative  from  Habana, 
being  at  the  same  time  a  professor  in  its  University,  and  another,  viz., 
your  humble  servant,  is  a  Spaniard  because  he  was  born  in  Habana 
itself.     Is  the  other  man  a  Peninsular,  and  am  I  not  a  Cuban  ? 

GUILLERMO. 

Assistant  Colonial  Secretary  of  Spain. 

This  has  all  the  force  and  all  the  fault  of  an  official 
paper,  and  is  the  most  complete  condensed  presentation 
of  the  Spanish  defense  for  alleged  failure  to  comply 
with  the  obligations  undertaken  on  behalf  of  the  gov- 
ernment, when  the  Cuban  revolutionary  leaders  gave 
up  the  fight  in  1878  under  the  persuasion  of  Martinez 
Campos,  and  Maximo  Gomez  retired  to  San  Domingo. 

The  response  to  this  elaborate  citation  of  law  is  that 
Cuba  got  the  show  of  power  to  protect  herself,  and 
Spain  held  the  reality  in  the  captain-generalcy  with 
unlimited  capacity  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  potential- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  '  79 

ities  of  military  despotism,  and  clung  tenaciously  by 
force  of  arms  to  the  injurious  political  economy,  that 
was  the  fatality  in  the  case  and  with  it  all  the  dullness 
and  selfishness  of  the  Spanish  system.  There  has  been 
an  improvement  of  legal  phraseology,  but  the  system 
is  the  same. 

We  have  from  the  Spanish  minister,  and  state  the 
origin  of  the  paper  that  there  may  be  no  question  of 
authority,  a  translation  of  the  reform  bill  voted  in' the 
Cortes  in  Spain  last  year,  and  not  inforced  on  account 
of  the  rebellion,  "but  which"  his  excellency  says,  "will 
be  promulgated  in  the  Island  as  soon  as  a  part  of  it  is 
pacified."  It  would  seem  from  this  that  there  is  not  a 
portion  of  Cuba  pacified  large  enough  to  experiment 
with,  and  that  is  the  fact,  for  the  forces  of  the  revolu- 
tion pervade  all  the  Island  outside  the  cities  by  the  sea, 
those  held  by  garrisons  in  the  interior,  and  the  camps 
and  bivouacs  of  the  Spanish  troops.  The  Reform  bill 
seems  to  have  been  an  effort  to  do  something  with 
limitations  that  held  hard  to  the  old  ways. 

There  was  proposed,  as  a  measure  of  pacification — 
for  the  elements  of  the  ten  years'  strife  were  manifestly 
mustering  for  another  struggle — that  there  should  be 
certain  changes  of  importance,  and  a  copy  of  the  law 
from  the  Colonial  Department  of  Spain  is  before  us, 
beginning  with  this  solemn  official  form  : 

COLONIAL    DEPARTMENT LAW. 

Alfonso  III.,  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  by  the  Constitution,  King  of 
Spain;  and,  in  his  name,  and  during  his  minority,  the  Queen  Regent 
of  the  Kingdom: 

To  all  those  who  may  see  and  hear  these  presents,  be  it  known  :  that 
the  Cortes  have  decreed,  and  we  have  sanctioned,  the  following  : 


80  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Article  ist.  The  system  of  government  of  the  Island  of  Cuba,  and 
its  civil  administration,  shall  be  readjusted  on  the  following  basis  : 

Basis  ist. — The  municipal  and  provincial  laws  now  in  force  in  the 
Island  shall  be  modified  in  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  following 
ends  : 

All  questions  relating  to  the  constitution  of  municipalities,  and  to 
the  aggregation,  segregation  and  demarcation  of  municipal  districts, 
shall  be  determined  by  the  council  of  administration  after  considering 
a  report  made  by  the  respective  provincial  chamber  of  deputies. 

The  provincial  law  shall  also  be  modified  in  all  such  points  as  this 
"basis"  shall  designate  as  coming  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Council 
of  Administration. 

All  questions  relating  to  the  constitution  of  town-councils,  to  matters 
pertaining  to  elections,  competency  of  nominees,  and  the  like,  shall  be 
determined  by  the  provincial  chamber  of  deputies. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  word  readjust  is  used  as 
the  key  to  the  intention  of  this  instrument.  The  date 
arranged  was  perhaps  the  most  critical  in  the  history  of 
the  Island — March  15,  1895.  The  war-cry  had  been 
"sent  forth"  February  24,  1895. 

In  the  Council  of  Administration,  if  anywhere,  was 
the  healing  capacity  for  "  modification  "  and  "  readjust- 
ment," and  it  was  agreed  that  this  council  should  be 
constituted  as  follows : 

The  governor-general,  whether  permanent  or  provisional,  shall  be 
President. 

The  governor  shall  appoint  by  royal  decree  fifteen  councillors. 

The  council  shall  have  a  secretary's  office,  with  the  personnel  neces- 
sary for  the  transaction  of  business. 

Every  member  of  the  council  shall,  as  such,  have  the  right  to  vote. 

To  hold  the  office  of  councillor,  in  addition  to  a  residence  of  four 
years  in  the  country,  some  one  of  the  following  qualifications  is  required  : 

To  be  or  to  have  been  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  of 
the  Economic  Society,  or  of  the  Planters'  Club. 

To  be  or  to  have  been  rector  of  the  university,  or  dean  of  the  col- 
lege of  lawyers  of  the  capital  of  a  province,  for  a  period  of  two  years. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  8 1 

To  have  been  for  a  period  of  four  years  before  the  election  one  among 
the  fifty  largest  taxpayers  in  the  Island,  whether  on  real  estate,  or  for  the 
exercise  of  a  profession. 

To  have  exercised  the  functions  of  senator  of  the  kingdom  or  dep- 
uty to  Cortes  in  one  or  more  legislatures. 

To  have  been  once  or  more  than  once  president  of  one  of  the  provin- 
cial chambers  of  deputies  of  the  Island  ;  to  have  been  for  two  or  more 
terms  of  two  years  each  a  member  of  the  provincial  commission,  or  for 
eight  years  a  provincial  deputy. 

To  have  been  for  two  or  more  terms  of  two  years  alcalde  or  mayor 
of  a  capital  of  a  province. 

To  have  been  councillor  of  administration  for  two  or  more  years, 
previous  to  the  promulgation  of  this  law. 

Whenever  the  council  may  deem  it  expedient  it  may  summon  to  its 
deliberations,  through  the  medium  of  the  governor-general,  the  heads 
of  the  administrative  department,  who  shall  not  therefore,  however, 
have  a  vote. 

The  council  shall  be  composed,  in  addition  to  the  above-named  mem- 
bers, of  fifteen  councillors,  elected  according  to  the  same  census  as  are 
the  provincial  deputies. 

The  council  of  administration  shall  decree  whatsoever  it  may  deem 
expedient  for  the  conduct  of  the  public  works  throughout  the  Island  ; 
of  the  telegraphic  and  postal  communications,  both  by  land  and  sea  ;  of 
agriculture,  industry  and  commerce  ;  of  immigration  and  colonization ; 
of  public  instruction  and  of  beneficence  and  health  ;  without  prejudice 
to  the  powers  of  supervision  and  other  powers  inherent  in  the  sovereignty 
reserved  by  the  laws  to  the  national  government. 

It  shall  make  up  and  approve  the  annual  budget,  making  in  it  the 
necessary  appropriations  for  the  above-named  departments. 

The  administrative  council,  it  will  be  seen,  under 
this  plan,  must  be  composed  of  the  official  class,  and 
fifteen  members  are  appointed  by  the  governor  and 
a  like  number  elected  under  restrictions,  as  in  case  of 
the  provincial  deputies;  and  the  law  that  is  the  promise 
of  liberty,  if  order  prevails,  provides — 

It  shall  be  incumbent  of  the  governor-general,  as  the  supreme  head 
of  the  government  of  the  Island,  to  execute  all  the  decrees  of  the  council. 


82  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

There  would  not  seem  to  be  much  danger  that  radi- 
caHsm  could  break  forth  in  a  council,  constituted  as 
we  have  seen,  but  the  iron  hand  is  nigh,  as  follows  : 

Whenever  the  governor-general  shall  judge  any  decision  of  the  coun- 
cil to  be  contrary  to  the  laws  or  to  the  general  interest  of  the  nation,  he 
shall  suspend  its  execution  and  shall  himself  take  such  provisional  meas- 
ures as  the  public  needs — which  would  otherwise  have  been  neglected, 
because  of  such  suspension — may  require,  immediately  submitting  the 
matter  to  the  minister  of  the  colonies. 

If  any  decision  of  the  council  shall  injure  unduly  the  rights  of  any 
individual,  those  who  by  their  vote  have  contributed  to  its  adoption  shall 
be  held  responsible  for  the  indemnification  or  compensation  of  the  per- 
son so  injured  by  the  courts,  which  shall  have  jurisdiction  in  the  matter. 

The  governor-general,  after  the  consultation  with  the  advisory  coun- 
cil, may  suspend  the  council  of  administration  or  without  that  reduisite 
may  decree  the  suspension  of  its  members  if  there  remains  such  mem- 
bers of  them  as  shall  be  necessary  to  its  deliberation: 

First. — When  the  council  or  any  of  its  members  trangress  the  limits 
of  their  legal  powers  to  the  prejudice  of  the  governmental  or  judicial 
authority,  or  to  the  risk  of  a  disturbance  of  the  public  peace. 

Second. — For  delinquency. 

And,  in  addition,  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  as  to 
the  absolutism  of  the  master,  the  "basis"  proposes  that 

When  in  his  judgment  the  resolutions  of  his  majesty's  government 
might  be  productive  of  injury  to  the  general  interests  of  the  nation  or 
to  the  especial  interests  of  the  Island,  he  may  suspend  their  publication 
and  fulfillment,  informing  the  minister  concerned  of  such  suspension 
and  of  his  reasons  for  making  it,  in  the  speediest  manner  possible. 

To  superintend  and  inspect  all  the  public  departments. 

To  communicate  directly  concerning  international  questions  with  the 
representatives,  diplomatic  agents  and  consuls  of  Spain  in  America. 

To  suspend  the  execution  of  capital  punishment,  whenever  the  grav- 
ity of  the  circumstances  may  require  it,  and  the  urgency  of  the  case  is 
such  that  there  is  no  opportunity  to  apply  to  his  majesty  for  pardon, 
after  consulting  with  the  advisory  council. 

To  suspend,  after  consultation  with  the  same  council,  and  on  its 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  83 

responsibility,  whenever  extraordinary  circumstances  prevent  previous 
communication  of  the  government,  the  guarantee  expressed  in  Articles 
4th,  5th,  6th  and  9th,  and  paragraphs  ist,  2nd  and  3rd  of  Article  13th 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  to  apply  the  riot  act. 

As  the  supreme  head  of  the  civil  administration  of 
the  Island  it  shall  also  be  in  the  province  of  the  gov- 
ernor-g-eneral: 

To  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  administrative  jurisdiction,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  ordinances  governing  questions  of  jurisdiction  and  powers. 

To  promulgate  the  general  orders  necessary  for  the  carrying  out  of 
the  laws  and  ordinances,  communicating  them  to  the  colonial  depart- 
ment. 

That  nothing"  may  be  wanting  to  make  the  domi- 
nance of  the  great  office  of  the  Island  complete  and 
conclusive,  it  is  declared  as  if  it  were  a  boon  for  order : 

The  governor-general  shall  be  the  representative  of  the  national 
government  in  the  island  of  Cuba,  He  shall  exercise,  as  viceregal 
patron,  the  powers  inherent  in  the  patronato  of  the  Indies.  He  shall 
have  the  supreme  command  of  all  the  armed  forces,  on  land  and  sea, 
stationed  in  the  Island.  He  shall  be  the  delegate  of  the  minister  of  the 
colonies,  of  state,  of  war  and  marine,  and  all  the  other  authorities 
of  the  Island  shall  be  subordinate  to  him. 

It  cannot  occasion  surprise  in  countries  where  the 
people  have  some  authority  that  this  programme  was 
found  unsatisfactory  by  those  already  rising  in  revolu- 
tion, because  they  regarded  the  treaty  of  Zanjon  as 
administered,  if  not  in  itself,  inadequate. 

And  yet  those  who  held  in  Cuba  that  Spanish  rule 
there  could  be  so  liberalized  as  to  make  insurrection 
wholly  without  warrant,  issued  a  circular,  using  this  lan- 
guage as  to  the  policy  of  reform  of  which  we  have  just 
recited  the  remarkable  limitations. 


84  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA 

The  Liberal  Autonomist  party  having  always  condemned  revolutionary 
steps  must  now  condemn,  and  does  so  condemn,  with  a  better  reason 
for  it  and  more  decidedly,  the  revolt  started  on  the  24th  of  February, 
when  reforms  had  just  been  voted  with  the  concurrence  of  our  repre- 
sentatives by  the  Cortes,  and  the  importance  of  these  reforms  can  hardly 
be  overrated.  It  has  been  recognized  by  all  who  give  them  a  fair  con- 
sideration, without  prejudice  or  malice,  and  even  by  those  who  were 
fiercely  opposed  to  them  at  the  beginning. 

If  SO  much  can  be  said  of  that  which  in  the  Ameri- 
can atmosphere  seems  so  Httle — what  objection  can 
be  made  too  strong  to  the  forms  of  misgovernment 
that  it  was  considered  the  decree  of  reform  was  to 
remedy  ? 

In  the  Autonomist  circular  to  which  we  refer,  and 
which  it  is  the  Spanish  fashion  to  regard  as  of  the 
largest  moment,  the  party  much  praises  itself,  saying  : 

The  Autonomist  party  condemns  perturbation  because  it  is  a  legal 
party  that  has  faith  in  the  means  afforded  by  the  constitution,  in  the 
effectual  agency  of  work,  in  the  indisputable  force  of  ideas;  and  affirms 
that  revolutions,  when  not  made  under  entirely  exceptional  circum- 
stances, produced  only  at  long  periods  in  history,  they  are  terrible 
scourges,  great  calamities  for  civilized  countries,  which  by  means  of 
peaceful  evolution,  of  reform  in  fundamental  laws,  of  progress,  and  of 
the  presence  of  public  opinion,  succeed  in  realizing  all  their  reasonable 
purposes,  and  all  their  legitimate  aspirations.  Moreover,  our  party  is 
necessarily  Spanish  because  it  is  essentially  and  exclusively  autonomist; 
and  colonial  autonomy,  which  is  originated  by  the  reality  of  a  colony, 
of  its  wants  and  peculiar  requirements,  implies  the  entity  of  a  metropolis 
in  the  fullness  of  its  sovereignty  and  historical  rights.  This  is  the 
reason  why  our  party  from  the  beginning  did  inscribe  on  its  standard 
liberty,  peace  and  national  unity  as  its  mottoes. 

Certainly  this  is  a  superbly  expressed  programme,  and 
the  Autonomists  go  on  to  say  rebellion  was  threatening 
order  and  liberty,  and  had  already  (April,  95) — 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  85 

Caused  the  suspension  of  constitutional  guarantees,  thus  preventing  the 
free  use  of  rights  we  had  obtained,  so  ample  indeed,  that  the  very  pro- 
moters of  disorder  have  been  using  them  at  pleasure  in  favor  of  their 
own  purposes  ;  and  we  are  not  yet  under  martial  law,  with  all  its  conse- 
quences, because  the  illustrious  governor,  who,  in  showing  coolness  and 
calm  energy,  is  entitled  to  deep  gratitude  on  the  part  of  Cuba,  has  pre- 
served and  communicated  to  the  supreme  government  the  confidence 
deserved  by  sensible  Cuban  people,  and  would  not  restrain  public  liberty 
to  any  more  than  a  strictly  necessary  extent. 

In  consequence  of  the  rebellious  outbreak,  our  constitutional  rights,  the 
value  and  effectual  agency  of  which  have  been  proved  by  the  very  seces- 
sionists in  their  unrestricted  actions,  always  under  the  protection  of  laws 
that  they  were  endangering  and  discrediting,  are  at  present  suspended 
and  at  the  mercy  of  military  authorities,  now  fortunately  addicted  to  a 
prudent  and  humane  policy. 

If  the  new  regime  adopted  by  the  Cortes  could  have  been  established 
in  full  peace,  and  under  the  circumstances  that  were  created  in  favor  of 
concord  and  progress  through  liberty,  it  would  have  caused  its  beneficial 
effects  to  be  felt  immediately,  preparing  the  way  for  further  progress  ; 
but  it  could  never  produce  such  results  if  it  were  established  under  the 
influence  of  anxiety,  anger,  resentment,  and  indignation  prevailing  in 
civil  wars,  or  of  renewed  mistrust  and  suspicions.  All  work  intended  to 
obtain  administrative,  financial  and  tariff  reforms,  demand  peace  as  a 
first  condition,  and  it  will  have  to  be  postponed  for  time  indefinite. 

We  had  already  secured  the  abolition  of  slavery,  the  rights  insti- 
tuted by  the  Constitution,  such  as  speech,  free  meeting,  free  associa- 
tion, free  education  and  religion,  in  the  same  degree  and  with  the 
same  guarantees  as  in  the  Peninsula;  public  trial  by  jury,  and  civil 
marriage ;  all  the  modern  civil  and  criminal  laws  of  the  mother-country, 
a  most  important  point  to  a  people  that  had  lived  until  lately  under 
laws  made  before  the  present  century;  the  abolition  of  differential  and 
export  duties,  the  reduction  of  over  35  per  cent,  of  fiscal  taxes,  which 
had  been  increased  in  consequence  of  the  last  war;  the  public  and 
official  acceptance  by  all  parties  of  a  large  portion  of  our  administrative 
plan,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  useless  principle  of  assimilation  to 
adopt  those  of  political  individuality  and  partial  self-administration 
whose  normal  development  must  lead  to  the  full  realization  of  our  plat- 
form. And  instead  of  these  improvements  and  further  progress  that  the 
country  reasonably  expects,  what  can  the  pretended  liberators  offer  to 
us  ?    The  horrors  of  civil  war,  the  armed  contest  among  the  very  natives 


86  THE.  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

of  the  country,  which  perhaps  in  no  distant  time  might  become  a  strife 
of  the  worst  description ;  and  after  that,  a  more  complete  ruin  and  a 
fatal  move  backwards  in  the  way  of  civilization. 

This  document,  in  association  with  the  programme  of 
reformation  which  we  have  presented,  is  fully  and  fairly 
the  Spanish  case — the  "readjustment"  and  the  "modifica- 
tion "  actually  decreed.  The  representation  of  it  at  the  be- 
ginning- of  the  present  war  of  which  the  liberal  Autono- 
mists thirteen  months  ago  said  in  the  pronunciamento,we 
have  quoted,  "in  faithful  warning"  to  those  committing 
themselves  to  the  current  of  the  revolution,  was  this: 

All  signs  are  leading  to  the  belief  that  the  rebellion,  limited  to  one 
portion  of  the  Eastern  province,  has  succeeded  with  but  few  exceptions, 
in  getting  only  those  men  who  belong  to  the  most  ignorant  and  misera- 
ble classes,  who  are  the  victims  of  the  lamentable  want  of  advancement 
in  which  they  were  left  to  live  in  that  fine  section  of  Cuba  as  an  easy 
prey  for  agitators,  having  no  cohesion  or  discipline,  for  which  reason  it 
is  expected  that  they  will  have  to  disband  or  surrender.  To  this  end, 
will  have  co-operated,  besides  the  forces  rapidly  accumulated  by  the 
metropolis,  the  sensible  and  liberal  policy  of  the  government  and  of  its 
highest  representative,  and  the  general  disposition  of  the  country,  indif- 
ferent to  the  Satanic  incitations  of  the  stubborn,  while  loyal  to  their 
ideals  of  order,  progress  and  liberty.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the 
pacifier  to  whose  ability  was  due  the  re-establishment  of  peace,  and  of 
the  constitutional  regime  in  1878,  has  con^e  once  more  to  solve  the 
present  problems  in  the  same  spirit  of  noble,  righteous  and  generous  con- 
fidence in  the  people.  But  in  the  present  crisis,  the  same  as  in  all 
others,  it  belongs  to  the  people  to  make  the  greatest  and  most  persistent 
effort,  following  the  lines  of  that  dignified  policy  and  even  acting  in 
advance  of  emergencies,  in  order  that  peace  be  soon  restored,  that  dis- 
agreements and  diffidence  disappear,  that  constitutional  regime  be  rein- 
stated, and  that  the  new  administration  system  of  the  colony  be  inaugu- 
rated in  the  same  righteous  and  harmonious  spirit  in  which  the  two  gov- 
erning parties  of  the  metropolis  bound  themselves  to  maintain  it,  while 
we  promised  to  abide  by  it  if  loyally  respected.  This  is  the  only  way 
to  secure  its  fruitful  and  beneficial  effects,  and  an  eradication  of  abuses 
which  are  universally  condemned. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  8/ 

The  conclusion  of  this  manifesto  is  in  these  stately- 
terms  : 

The  Liberal  party  of  1868  retired  and  left  its  place  to  the  revolution- 
ists of  Yara,  because  after  the  reporting  committee  had  finished  its 
work,  it  was  found  that  the  legitimate  expectations  of  said  party  had  been 
frustrated  and  the  most  solemn  promises  of  the  metropolis  had  been 
postponed.  The  Liberal  party  of  1878  that,  being  more  fortunate,  has 
seen  how  those  promises  were  kept,  will  not  lower  its  flag  or  leave  its 
place  to  those  who  come  to  spoil  the  results  of  our  labor,  to  make  us 
recede  while  on  the  path  to  calm  progress,  to  ruin  the  land  and  to  darken 
the  prospects  of  our  future  with  the  horrible  spectre  of  poverty,  anarchy 
and  barbarism. 

Havana,  April  4,  1895. 

This  manifesto,  it  should  be  specially  marked,  actually 
vindicates  the  war  of  '68-78,  and  claims  the  fair  execu- 
tion of  the  treaty. 

The  Autonomists  have  been  disappointed,  for  the 
war  has  spread  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  former  high- 
watermarks  of  insurrection — indeed,  over  the  whole 
Island — and  the  great  Pacificator  has  gone  home  con- 
fessedly beaten.  The  Liberal  Autonomist  party  and 
all  its  policies  set  forth  in  this  eloquent  and  plausible 
address  have  totally  failed. 

This  presentation  of  the  alleged  "readjustment"  on 
which  Spain  relied  for  the  Pacification  of  Cuba,  and  of 
the  calculations  of  the  necessary  application  of  forces  to 
produce  order,  are  the  more  impressive  because  made 
from  Spanish  documents  not  yet  familiar  to  the  people  of 
the  United  States,  and  they  show  with  greater  strength 
than  the  stories  of  a  thousand  incidents  of  the  horrors 
of  the  war,  the  causes  of  the  prostration  of  the  Spanish 
cause  in  Cuba. 

C— 6 


88  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


i 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SPANISH    WAR    POLICY. 

The  Way  the  Present  War  Opened  and  how  it  Progressed — Personal 
Characteristics  of  Prominent  Figures— Campos,  Weyler,  Gomez 
the  Maceos  and  Garcia— The  War  Shifted  to  the  West  End— The 
Prize  of  the  Victor  Praised  in  Proze  and  Poetry. 

General  Martinez  Campos  had  great  celebrity  for 
his  success  in  closing  the  war  of  1868-1878  by  the 
convention  known  as  the  Treaty  of  Zanjon.  He  is 
conspicuous  in  the  gallery  of  the  captain-generals  that 
is  an  attraction  in  the  Spanish  palace  at  Havana,  and 
there  his  figure  is  slender  and  his  attitude  alert  as  he 
was  twenty  years  ago.  He  was  the  first  man  thought 
of  in  Spain  when  the  rebellion  broke  out  in  Cuba  in 
February,  1895,  to  put  it  down  ;  but  he  found  it  a  much 
more  serious  affair  than  he  had  before  encountered, 
and  he  so  far  recognized  the  belligerency  of  the  Cuban 
insurrectionists  as  to  attempt  carrying  on  war  in  a 
civilized  way.  The  struggle  gradually  assumed  far 
greater  proportions  than  he  had  imagined  possible,  and 
his  enemies  charged  that  his  tenderness  in  dealing  with 
rebels  was  the  great  fault  that  filled  insurgent  ranks. 
That,  however,  was  a  gross  injustice  to  a  competent 
soldier.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  intense  politics  in 
Havana,  and  soon  all  the  politicians  except  a  few  mod- 
erates were  against  him.  Then  he  was  recalled,  and  his 
successor,  General  Weyler,  is  believed  by  all  Cubans 
to  have  been  indebted  for  the  appointment  to  his  rep- 


D.  VAlvERlANO  VvKVI^EU. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  9I 

utation  for  severity.  Now  Campos  does  not  deserve 
his  good  name  for  benignity,  nor  Weyler  the  ful- 
ness of  his  fame  for  brutality  and  barbarism.  They 
have  had  a  greater  task  assigned  them  than  is  under- 
stood, for  the  Spaniards  have  not  realized  that  they 
have  lost  Cuba  and  that  all  the  captain-generals  hence- 
forth are  foredoomed  failures.  The  failure  of  Weyler 
must  be  swifter  than  that  of  Campo^|^ 

The  likeness  of  General  Weyler  is  given  in  full  uni- 
form with  all  his  decorations.  When  he  landed  in 
Cuba,  the  cannon  sounding,  the  flags  flying,  the  brass 
bands  playing,  the  sun  shining,  the  Spaniards  cheering, 
and  walked  in  the  street  one  block  to  the  palace 
square  through  masses  of  people,  guarded  by  firm  lines 
of  soldiers,  he  wore  all  the  bravery  that  the  picture 
shows,  and,  in  addition,  a  sword  and  hat  from  which 
floated  a  tall  and  fluttering  white  plume.  He  had 
been  told  there  was  a  plot  to  assassinate  him  at  this 
time,  but  took  the  chances  coolly.  The  Spaniards 
have  had  some  experience  of  dynamite  thrown  by 
anarchists,  and  a  bomb  might  have  been  hurled  from 
a  housetop  or  a  window  upon  the  new  captain-general. 
The  Cuban  revolutionists  declared  they  could  not  af- 
ford to  do  it,  for  if  they  became  assassins  they  would 
lose  the  sympathy  of  all  civilized  people.  In  the  pal- 
ace on  business  he  is  dressed  with  extreme  simplic- 
ity, in  black  clothes  with  no  mark  of  rank  but  a  sash  of 
red  and  yellow  around  his  waist. 

Mr.  Rappleye,  an  American  correspondent,  who 
added  art  as  a  pen  painter  to  his  news  service,  drew 
this  striking  personal  sketch  of  the  captain-general 
whose  failure  in  Cuba  will  be  one  of  the  decisive 
features  of  the  progress  of  the  Island  to  independence  : 


92  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

General  Weyler  is  one  of  those  men  who  creates  a  first  impression, 
the  first  sight  of  whom  never  can  be  effaced  from  the  mind,  by  whose 
presence  the  most  careless  observer  is  impressed  instantly,  and  yet, 
taken  altogether,  he  is  a  man  in  whom  the  elements  of  greatness  are 
concealed  under  a  cloak  of  impenetrable  obscurity.  Inferior  physically, 
unsoldierly  in  bearing,  exhibiting  no  trace  of  refined  sensibilities  nor 
pleasure  in  the  gentle  associations  that  others  live  for  or  at  least  seek  as 
diversions,  he  is  nevertheless  the  embodiment  of  mental  acuteness, 
crafty,  unscrupulous,  fearless  and  of  indomitable  perseverance. 

He  is  one  of  the  most  magnetic  men  in  whose  presence  I  have  ever 
stood — yet  not  attractive.  His  overwhelming  personality  is  irresistible 
— yet  he  is  unpleasant  of  appearance.  Campos  was  an  exceptional  man. 
Marin  was  commonplace.  Weyler  is  unique.  Campos  and  Marin 
affected  gold  lace,  dignity  and  self-consciousness.  Weyler  ignores  them 
all  as  useless,  unnecessary  impediments,  if  anything,  to  the  one  object 
of  his  existence.  Campos  was  fat,  good-natured,  wise,  philosophical, 
slow  in  his  mental  processes,  clear  in  his  judgment,  emphatic  in  his 
opinions,  outspoken  and,  withal,  lovable,  humane,  conservative,  con- 
structive, progressive,  with  but  one  project  ever  before  him,  the  glorifica- 
tion of  Spain  as  a  mother-land  and  a  figure  among  peaceful,  enlightened 
nations.  Weyler  is  lean,  diminutive,  shriveled,  ambitious  for  immortality 
irrespective  of  its  odor,  a  master  of  diplomacy,  the  slave  of  Spain  for  the 
glory  of  sitting  at  the  right  of  her  throne,  unlovable,  unloving,  exalted. 

My  journey  through  the  forest  of  gold  lace  terminated  before 
the  closed  door  of  General  Weyler's  official  abode.  There  an  adjutant, 
more  bedizzened  than  the  rest  of  the  dazzling  multitude,  trod  softly  to 
the  portico,  gently  opened  the  way,  retired  again  without  a  word,  and 
we  were  alone  in  the  presence  of  the  man. 

And  what  a  picture  !  A  little  man.  An  apparition  of  blacks — black 
eyes,  black  hair,  black  beard,  dark — exceedingly  dark — complexion  ;  a 
plain  black  attire.  He  was  alone,  and  was  standing  facing  the  door  I 
entered.  He  had  taken  a  position  in  the  very  centre  of  the  room,  and 
seemed  lost  in  its  immense  depths.  His  eyes,  far  apart,  bright,  alert  and 
striking,  took  me  in  at  a  glance.  His  face  seemed  to  run  to  chin,  his 
lower  jaw  protruding  far  beyond  any  ordinary  indication  of  firmness, 
persistence  or  will  power.  His  forehead  is  neither  high  nor  receding  ; 
neither  is  it  that  of  a  thoughtful  or  philosophic  man.  His  ears  are  set 
far  back  ;  and  what  is  called  the  region  of  intellect,  in  which  are  those 
mental  attributes  that  might  be  defined  as  powers  of  observation,  calcu- 
lation, judgment  and  execution,  is  strongly  developed. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  93 

The  grand  old  man  of  the  war  is  Maximo  Gomez,  a 
man  of  the  greatest  mihtary  capacity  that  has  been  dis- 
played in  this  war,  and  that  will  give  him  a  permanent 
place  among  the  great  captains.  He  is,  of  course, 
charged  by  the  Spaniards  with  selling  out  to  them 
when  Campos  played  pacificator  at  Zanjon,  but  his 
little  farm  in  San  Domingo  and  his  wife  and  children 
earning  their  living  as  music  teachers  and  seamstresses, 
while  his  son,  at  the  command  of  the  father,  protects 
mother  and  sisters,  and  holds  a  clerkship,  does  not 
look  like  enrichment  by  bribery — to  say  nothing  of 
returning  to  plunge  again  into  war  in  Cuba  against,  as 
he  well  knows,  tremendous  odds.  The  year  of  the 
military  life  of  Gomez,  just  closed,  has  been  not  only 
the  most  brilliant  in  his  long  life,  but  it  will  rank  high 
as  a  series  of  military  achievements  in  which  great 
things  were  accomplished  by  small  means.  There  is 
no  praise  of  accomplishments  in  war  more  exalted 
than  that. 

Before  us  is  a  letter,  dated  Manzanillo,  March  12, 
1895,  from  Herminio  C.  Leyva  to  Bartolome  Masso, 
showing  no  less  clearly  than  the  manifesto  of  the  Lib- 
eral Autonomists  the  absolute  assurance  of  speedy  suc- 
cess, with  which  the  Spaniards  disregarded  the  lessons 
of  the  ten  years'  skirmishes  without  decisive  results, 
and  accepted  the  challenge  of  the  Cuban  separatists 
to  another  trial  of  arms.  Now  the  separatists  stood 
on  the  ground  which  we  have  shown  from  Spanish 
reports  to  be  firm  and  well  taken — that  the  alleged 
reforms,  whatever  they  might  have  seemed  as  con- 
cessions and  readjustments  to  the  Spaniards  them 
selves,  gave  the  reformation  into  the  hands  of  the 
official  class,  the  primal  curse  of  Cuba  because  foreign 


94  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

— and  to  the  captain-general,  shorn  of  no  shred  of  his 
arbitrary  power,  but  as  always  an  absolute  military 
despot.     Leyva  wrote  to  Masso  : 

Before  leaving  Manzanillo,  I  want  to  make  the  last  effort  to  prevent 
bloodshed  amongst  brothers.  You  are  still  in  time  to  avoid  it,  and  if 
you  do  not  do  so,  every  drop  of  blood  that  is  shed  will  serve  to  stain 
your  name  in  history. 

True  patriotism,  Mr.  Masso,  is  like  bravery,  grand,  sublime  ;  but  just 
because  both  are  really  great,  they  should  not  be  mistaken  for  rashness, 
as  this  would  belittle  them  and  even  drag  them  about  the  ground. 

You  are  a  man  of  intelligence  and  heart ;  I  am  sure  of  it,  even  with- 
out having  had  the  pleasure  of  your  frequent  society,  and  now  appeal  to 
those  two  qualities  of  yours,  asking  you  to  meditate  and  use  them  at 
least  in  favor  of  that  large  number  of  inexperienced  Cubans  driven  by 
you  to  insurrection  with  a  patriotic  idea  (this  is  evident  to  me)  but  under 
an  impression  that  is  entirely  mistaken  ;  for  the  mothers  of  said  men 
will  in  the  future,  curse  your  name  when  the  present  situation  has  been 
made  clear  to  all,  if  you  insist  in  leading  them  to  a  useless  sacrifice, 
as  the  campaign  undertaken  by  you,  besides  being  quite  unjustified, 
must  now  prove  fruitless  and  even  injurious  to  the  happiness  of  our 
country. 

You  may  see,  and  I  tell  you  so  again,  after  our  interview  at  "La 
Odiosa,"  that  other  provinces  are  not  helping  you  ;  on  the  contrary, 
they  will  oppose  yours,  for  the  country  has  already  understood  that 
Cuba's  welfare  is  not  to  be  secured  by  war,  and  as  war  would  be  a  sort 
of  political  suicide,  and  there  is  no  civilized  country  that  will  commit 
suicide  knowingly. 

Moreover,  think  and  consider  that  Spain  has  ample  means  to  quell  the 
^revolt  in  a  short  time  ;  troops  are  coming  from  Puerto  Rico,  eight 
battalions  have  left  the  peninsula,  and  as  many  more  as  may  be  wanted 
will  come. 

The  insurgents  have  no  war  material,  and  you  need  not  expect  any 
from  abroad,  I  assure  you.  Then  one  half  the  number  of  men  you  have 
on  the  field  are  without  arms,  and  will  return  to  the  towns  as  soon  as 
the  government  troops  begin  operations  against  you. 

Julio  Sanguily  is  a  prisoner  in  La  Cabana,  Juan  Gualberto  Gomez 
surrendered,  Yero  is  in  San  Domingo,  Guillermon  is  ill  with  hemorrhage 
and  surrounded  by  troops  in  the  Guantanamo  mountains  ;  Urbano  San- 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY.  95 

chez   Hechavarria  and  two  of   his  brothers  are  in  Mexico.     What  can 
you  expect  under  these  circumstances  ? 

So  the  time  has  come,  in  my  opinion,  for  you  to  prove  to  the  whole 
world  that  you  are  a  true  patriot,  by  laying  down  the  arms  ;  a  course 
that,  far  from  discrediting  you  in  politics,  would  exalt  your  name  to  the 
high  position  in  which  I  wish  to  see  it  forever. 

We  do  not  need  to  recite  the  contrast  there  is  between 
this  utterance  of  March,  '95,  and  the  leaves  of  history 
written  in  blood  and  fire,  through  the  w^hole  extent 
of  the  Island  during  the  year  following  which  wit- 
nessed the  complete  defeat  and  humiliating  retire- 
ment of  the  Pacificator  Campos ;  and  on  the  succeed- 
ing days  there  has  been  shown  the  discomfiture  of 
VVeyler  who  has,  irrespective  of  all  the  stories  of  outrage 
and  all  the  announcements  of  triumph,  failed  at  a 
more  rapid  rate  than  his  predecessor. 

The  Maceos  look  so  much  alike,  it  is  fortunate  one 
wears  a  full  beard  and  that  the  other  does  not.  They 
are  mulattos  and  full  brothers,  and  Antonio  is  the  cav- 
alry leader  who  has  the  greater  celebrity,  and,  next  to 
Maximo  Gomez,  the  largest  share  of  the  glory  of  the 
war.  It  is  understood  to  be  the  Cuban's  best  chance  to 
strike  for  liberty  when  he  is  on  a  horse  and  has  a 
machete  in  hand.  Then  he  rides  in  for  war  to  the 
knife,  and  that  is  the  way  the  Maceos  are  fond  of 
fighting. 

The  Spaniards  make  much  of  the  conspicuity  of  the 
Maceos,  in  the  efforts  to  persuade  people  that  the 
insurrection  is  an  affair  of  black  men  chiefly,  and  means 
the  conversion  of  Cuba  into  a  larger  San  Domingo. 
The  Maceos  are  said  to  be,  and  no  doubt  truly,  very 
ambitious  to  advance  the  black  race,  and  it  is  the  Span- 
ish policy  to  counteract  them  by  giving  black  men  in 


96  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  Spanish  army  that  sort  of  consideration  that  Mr. 
Lowell  described  in  sketching  EngHshmen  in  their  way 
with  Americans,  as  a  "certain  condescension." 

It  is  beUeved  the  veteran  soldier,  General  Calixto 
Garcia,  who  bears  on  his  forehead  a  scar  that  shows 
hand-to-hand  fighting  with  sabres,  joined  the  Cuban 
forces  in  March,  and  it  is  considered  that  he  is  an 
accession  of  importance  to  the  patriotic  cause.  The 
Cuban  forces  have  in  the  ranks  as  brave  men  as  are 
anywhere  produced,  but  they  do  not  have  many  gener- 
als of  both  experience  and  capacity,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  of  the  warm  welcome  Garcia  received  when  he 
joined  the  fighting  men. 

The  greatest  surprise  in  the  course  of  the  war  in  Cuba 
is  that  the  scene  of  it  should  have  been  shifted  from 
the  east  end,  which  has  long  had  the  reputation  of 
being  rebellious,  to  the  west  end,  which  never,  until 
after  Maximo  Gomez  and  the  Maceos  flanked  Havana 
and  entered  Pinar  del  Rio,  had  been  supposed  to  be  ac- 
cessible to  an  enemy.  When  the  central  board  of  the 
Liberal  Autonomists  addressed  the  people  of  Cuba  a 
year  ago,  opposing  a  resort  to  arms,  they  opened  with 
the  sharply  defined  expression  of  the  confidence  the 
partisans  of  Spain  positively  felt : 

Although  the  revolutionary  onset  is  doomed  to  suppression — being 
already  isolated  and  limited  to  our  Eastern  province,  it  has  given  rise 
to  political  and  financial  difificulties  so  serious  for  the  present  and  for  the 
future,  that  notwithstanding  its  lack  of  strength,  it  has  succeeded  in  cre- 
ating intense  excitement  in  the  peninsula,  and  suspicious  fears  in  the 
countries  that  have  dealings  with  ours. 

It  was  the  inability  of  Campos  to  justify  this  confi- 
dence that  drove  him  defeated  to  Spain.     The  west  end 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  99 

has  become  the  seat  of  war,  and  there  the  Maceos  have 
carried  out  the  poHcy  of  devastation,  ruining  many  of 
the  finest  plantations  in  the  world.  And  then  the  in- 
numerable little  islands  southward,  and  the  harbors,  af- 
ford incomparable  facilities  for  the  filibuster,  and  there 
are  ambuscades  in  the  midst  of  a  plenteous  land  for 
the  insurgents. 

Thus  is  more  than  doubled  by  the  invasion  of  the 
rebels,  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to  the  Spaniards,  of 
the  enterprise  of  conquest  they  have  undertaken.  In 
a  work  on  the  "  Pearl  of  the  Antilles,"  written  by  Anto- 
nio Gallenga  in  1873,  we  read  of  the  war  as  it  then 
raged  : 


The  Sierre  Maestra,  or  main  chain,  running  along  the  whole  southern 
coast  from  Cabo  Cruz  to  Punta  de  Mayzi,  rises  to  a  height  of  8,000 
feet,  /'.  e.,  on  a  level  with  the  loftiest  Apennines.  What  culture  there 
was  in  this  region  is  rapidly  disappearing.  Many  of  the  landowners, 
with  such  wealth  as  they  were  able  to  save  from  the  wreck  of  their 
estates,  have  migrated  to  the  United  States,  to  Jamaica,  or  other  British 
possessions;  others  have  sold  their  slaves  and  cattle  to  the  planters  of 
the  western,  or  Havana,  department;  and  even  in  those  districts  from 
which,  out  of  sheer  exhaustion,  the  scourge  of  war  has  been  removed, 
agriculture  and  industry  find  it  difficult  to  revive,  owing  to  the  want 
of  public  confidence,  as  well  as  to  the  utter  absence  of  capital  and 
labor. 

The  western  department  has  remained  untouched  throughout  the 
struggle.  Havana  has  little  reason  to  distress  itself  about  the  Cuban 
insurrection.  This  prosperous,  pleasure-loving  city  can  afford  to  make 
itself  as  easy  about  Cespedes  and  his  rebels  as  New  York  ever  was  to 
the  skirmishes  with  the  Modoc  or  other  Red  Indians  on  the  borders  of 
the  remotest  territories,  or  Milan  with  respect  to  Pallavicini's  attacks  on 
the  brigand  fastnesses  in  the  Basilicata.  Indeed,  as  I  have  before  hinted, 
the  Havana  people  have  had  not  only  nothing  to  lose,  but  simply  too 
much  to  gain,  from  the  calamities  by  which  two-thirds  of  the  Island  h":z 
been  laid  desolate. 


lOO  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

All  is  now  sadly  changed  for  the  Spaniard,  and  the 
proud  and  brilliant  city  of  Havana.  The  war  has  roared 
and  flamed  at  her  gates,  and  even  her  milk  and  water 
supplies  have  been  threatened,  and  her  vegetable  gar- 
dens have  been  robbed  by  rebels,  and  the  writer  has 
seen  half  an  hour  from  the  great  city  the  flag  of  the 
rebellion  flying  from  a  hilltop.  It  is  by  comparing  the 
present  conflict  with  that  which  was  compromised  eigh- 
teen years  ago,  that  we  can  measure  with  an  approxi- 
mation to  accuracy  the  development  of  the  insurrec- 
tionary movement. 

And  we  can  hardly  appreciate  the  passions  aroused, 
if  we  do  not  bear  in  mind  the  splendor  of  the  prize  over 
which  the  bloody  contention  goes  on.  We  read,  in  "  Bal- 
lou's  Cuba  "  ( 1 854),  before  the  habit  of  civil  war  was  fixed 
in.  the  soil  of  the  Island  and  blood  of  the  people  : 

The  virgin  soil  of  Cuba  is  so  rich  that  a  touch  of  the  hoe  prepares  it 
for  the  plant;  or,  as  Douglass  Jerrold  says  of  Australia,  "  Just  tickle 
her  with  a  hoe,  and  she  laughs  with  a  harvest."  So  fertile  a  soil  is  not 
known  to  exist  in  any  other  portion  of  the  globe.  It  sometimes  produces 
three  crops  to  the  year,  and  in  ordinary  seasons  two  may  be  relied  upon 
— the  consequence  is,  that  the  Monteros  have  little  more  to  do  than 
merely  to  gather  the  produce  they  daily  carry  to  market,  and  which  also 
forms  so  large  a  portion  of  their  own  healthful  and  palatable  food.  The 
profusion  of  its  flora  and  the  variety  of  its  forests  are  unsurpassed,  while 
the  multitude  of  its  climbing  shrubs  gives  a  luxuriant  richness  to  its 
scenery,  which  contributes  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  fascinating  coun- 
tries in  the  world.  Nowhere  are  the  necessities  of  life  so  easily  supplied, 
or  man  so  delicately  nurtured. 

The  richest  soil  of  the  Island  is  black,  which  is  best  adapted  to  the 
purpose  of  the  sugar  planter,  and  for  this  purpose  it  is  usually  chosen. 
So  productive  is  this  description  of  land  that  the  extensive  sugar  planta- 
tions, once  fairly  started,  will  run  for  years  without  the  soil  being  even 
turned,  new  cane  starting  up  from  the  old  roots,  year  after  year,  with 
abundant  crops.    This  is  a  singular  fact  to  us  who  are  accustomed  to 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  lOI 

see  so  much  of  artificial  means  expended  upon  the  soil  to  enable  it  to 
bear  even  an  ordinary  crop  to  the  husbandman.  The  red  soil  is  less 
rich,  and  is  better  adapted  to  the  planting  of  coffee,  being  generally 
preferred  for  this  purpose,  while  the  mulatto-colored  earth  is  considered 
inferior,  but  still  is  very  productive,  and  is  improved  by  the  Monteros 
for  planting  tobacco,  being  first  prepared  with  a  mixture  of  the  other 
two  descriptions  of  soil,  which,  together,  form  the  richest  compost,  next 
to  guano,  known  in  agriculture. 

We  should  add  to  this  the  words  of  the  poet  Long- 
fellow, on  the  poetry  of  Spanish  America,  in  the  North 
American  Reviezv  for  January,  1849: 

Cuba,  that  garden  of  the  West,  gorgeous  with  perpetual  flowers  and 
brilliant  with  the  plumage  of  innumerable  birds,  beneath  whose  glowing 
sky  the  teeming  earth  yields  easy  and  abundant  harvest  to  the  toil  of 
man,  and  whose  capacious  harbors  invite  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
In  the  words  of  Columbus,  **it  is  the  most  beautiful  land  that  ever  eyes 
beheld." 

And  the  lines  of  James  M.  Phillippo,  inspired  by  the 
Cuban  sky,  sparkle  even  beside  the  prose  of  a  great  poet : 

Ye  tropic  forests  of  unfading  green, 

Where  the  palm  tapers  and  the  orange  glows, 
Where  the  light  bamboo  weaves  her  feathery  screen, 
^       And  her  tall  shade  the  matchless  ceyba  throws: 

Ye  cloudless  ethers  of  unchanging  blue. 

Save,  as  its  rich  varieties  give  way. 
To  the  clear  sapphire  of  your  midnight  hue. 

The  Durnished  azure  of  your  perfect  day. 


I02  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    PRESENT    CUBAN    WAR. 

The  Press  of  Cuba — Its  Limitations — An  Assault  on  American  Senators 
— The  Comic  Style  of  Abusing  Uncle  Sam — Interview  with  Captain- 
General  Marin — His  View  of  the  Zanjon  Reforms  and  Rebel  In- 
gratitude— Refers  to  the  Ten  Years'  War  and  to  the  Robbers — The 
Retiring  Captain-General  does  not  get  a  Hearing  in  Havana. 

The  journals  of  Havana  are,  under  the  pressure  of  the 
miUtary  authorities,  semi-official  in  their  utterances.  It 
is  the  theory  of  the  authorities  that  the  press  of  the 
great  city  of  Cuba  is  unanimous  in  its  attachment  to  the 
government,  and  the  prevailing  harmony  of  journalism 
is  the  subject  of  felicitation.  Of  course,  the  liberty  of 
the  Press  does  not  exist  under  the  conditions  of  martial 
law.  Fancy  a  Cuban  journal  attempting  to  vindicate 
the  rebellion — to  praise  the  character  of  the  leaders  of 
it — to  accuse  the  authorities  themselves  of  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors!  Such  a  publication  would,  be  a 
challenge  to  instantaneous  and  mortal  combat,  and  the 
first  issue  of  such  a  journal  would  be  the  last. 

In  reviewing  the  speeches  in  the  Senate  on  Cuban  af- 
fairs, by  Mr.  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania  and  Mr.  Call  of 
Florida,  there  was  an  expression  of  a  resentment  in  the 
journals  of  concord  towards  the,  public  men  of  the  United 
States,  who  presumed  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  revo- 
lutionists. The  leading  journal  of  Havana,  the  Diacio 
de  la  Mariana,  treated  its  readers  to  a  very  abusive  ar- 
ticle relating  to  Senators  Call  and  Cameron,  under  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  IO3 

caption  "  Blockheads."  It  had  held  Mr.  Call  as  an  in- 
vincible champion,  but  "there  is  always  a  match  for 
every  bully,"  and  in  the  Senate  there  was  "  another  ad- 
juster of  foreign  lands  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Cameron, 
who  is  shod  and  clothed,  and  we  don't  know  if  he  gets 
any  money,  which  would  be  hard  to  collect,  from  the 
Cuban  filibusters." 

The  Diacio,  after  some  very  personal  observations,  re- 
marked: "  We  will  have  to  call  the  attention  of  the  North 
Americans  to  the  formidable  invasion  that  idiotic  politics 
has  made  in  their  parliament,  if  only  that  they  may  put  a 
stop  to  the  shamefully  ridiculous  position  in  which  the 
Yankee  legislators  and  their  similars  are  placed  before 
the  eyes  of  the  people  who  have  sound  and  good  minds;" 
and  the  able  editor  closed  the  instructive  effusion  by 
saying :  "  Spain  is  quite  serene,  but  energetically  dis- 
posed not  to  consent,  that  this  or  any  other  strange 
government,  violating  the  laws  of  nations,  shall  try  to 
mix  in  a  matter  so  much  our  own  as  this  war  of  Cuba." 

The  comic  journals  of  Cuba  are  Spanish  of  course ; 
while  the  insurgents  have  no  method  of  getting  into 
circulation  even  their  state  papers  other  than  such  as 
Anarchists  possess  in  Russia.  There  may  be  secret 
printing  places,  but  that  which  is  hot  for  the  Cuban  cause 
is  usually  in  manuscript.  One  of  the  favorite  themes  of 
the  cartoonists  who  serve  the  official  class  in  Cuba  is 
"Uncle  Sam,"  and  he  would  not  be  recognized,  except 
by  the  stars  and  stripes  With  which  he  is  decorated. 
He  does  not  seem  to  be  in  any  way  related  to  our 
Brother  Jonathan.  He  is  a  lank,  elderly  gentleman  of 
breezy  postures,  with  ample  hair  and  slender  limbs  and 
disheveled  coat-tails,  or  he  is  a  very  fat  person,  closely 
resembling  a  pig,  always  with    stars   on   his  hat  and 


104  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

stripes  on  his  stomach.  The  Spanish  idea  imparts  to 
"  Uncle  Sam  "  a  tremendous  mouth  with  ample  diges- 
tion, a  bulbous,  disreputable  nose,  broken  teeth  and 
bad  manners  towards  colored  people  of  both  sexes. 
"U.  S."  is  either  conducting  himself  with  familiarity 
toward  a  black  woman,  or  handing  a  torch  to  a  black 
man,  bidding  him  go  and  burn  canefields  or  houses, 
and  he  is  doing  this  with  a  diabolical  leer. 

This  style  of  art  is  seen  also  in  personifying  insurrec- 
tion in  a  brutal  black  man  whose  lips  are  excessive, 
imposing  his  attentions  upon  a  slender,  graceful  fig- 
ure— a  young  white  woman  who  represents  Cuba, 
and  regards  him  with  horror.  A  black  man  is  always 
equipped  with  a  knife  with  which  he  is  assassinating  a 
Cuban  woman,  or  a  big  blacking  brush  with  which 
he  is  supposed  to  be  blotting  Cuba  from  the  map. 
This  is  of  course  an  appeal  to  racial  feeling,  and 
indicates  a  degree  of  it  one  would  not  suspect  from  the 
ease  of  the  black  people  on  the  promenades  and  in 
the  various  public  functions  of  Havana  life. 

The  suggestion  is  of  course  that  the  rebellion  in  Cuba 
is  going  the  way  with  that  of  Hayti,  which  resulted  in 
the  memorable  desolation  by  fire  and  massacre.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  time  in  the  Island  in  the  course 
of  the  present  war  when  the  crop  of  art  was  more 
extravagant  than  in  the  period  when  we  gave  it  close 
examination,  for  there  were  several  Uncle  Samuels  of 
more  flagrant  bad  form  aifd  scandalous  associations 
than  any  in  recent  issues  of  the  Don  Quixote — the  old 
numbers  being  pasted  on  bulletin  boards  and  hung  up 
before  shops  to  attract  customers.  Perhaps  these  were 
of  the  gentle  times  of  Campos,  of.  which  so  much  is 
heard  now  that  he  is  gone. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  IO5 

The  newspapers  of  Havana  have  had  a  most  precari- 
ous and  hazardous  field  of  enterprise,  and  it  is  due  them 
to  say  that  as  a  rule  they  are  conducted  with  abihty  and 
dignity  and  are  decent  and  make  the  best  of  a  troubled 
situation.  They  are  large,  well  printed,  and  display 
fairly  the  intelligence  that  is  permitted  to  get  into 
print.  Their  office  equipment  is  good,  and  they  have 
neither  the  remarkable  merits  nor  faults  of  those  whose 
enterprises  are  carried  on  with  the  scorching  energy 
characteristic  of  American  journalism. 

The  restrictions  that  exist  in  Cuba  to  sending  Ameri- 
canisms to  America  by  telegraph  have  become  tolerably 
familiar,  and  it  may  be  interesting  to  illustrate  the 
newspaper  methods  of  the  Spaniards  to  record  an  ex- 
perience in  offering  news  to  a  newspaper  of  Havana. 
Captain-General  Marin  occupied  the  great  office, 
after  the  departure  of  Campos,  until  the  arrival 
of  Weyler,  and  was  so  polite  as  to  talk  with  me  very 
freely  and  express  himself  in  an  interesting  way.  He 
stated  the  case  of  Cuba  as  he  understood  it  forcibly  and 
handsomely,  and  my  report  of  the  interview  was  cabled 
to  New  York  just  as  it  was  prepared.  A  Cuban  jour- 
nalist took  a  copy  of  it,  and  proposed  to  publish  it  in 
the  paper  to  which  he  was  attached,  regarding  it  as 
a  matter  of  particular  interest.  He  was  very  glad, 
indeed,  to  get  it,  but  it  never  appeared.  Just  as  it 
was  about  to  be  given  to  the  people  of  Havana,  an 
unseen  hand  snatched  it  away,  as  if  to  yank  it  to 
oblivion. 

This  talk  of  General  Marin  is  valuable  as  the  clearest 
and  most  consecutive  statement  that  has  been  made  of 
the  claim  of  the  Spaniards  that  they  rule  reasonably 
and  are  fighting   in    the    cause  of   good  government. 


I06  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  refusal   to    have    this    appear    in    Havana  only  in- 
creases its  interest  for  the  general  public. 

When  I  was  shown  into  Captain  -  General  Marin's 
private  room  in  the  celebrated  palace,  he  came  forward 
— a  grave  man  with  iron-gray  hair  and  strong,  kind  face, 
and  the  interpreter  gave  him  a  flattering  account  of 
myself  and  friends,  naming  public  men,  saying  I  could 
be  trusted  with  historical  matters,  adding  that  talking 
to  me  would  be  having  speech,  through  the  news- 
paper I  represented,  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  when  I  was  in  Washington  city,  a  few 
days  before,  there  was  a  general  complaint  that  the 
actual  state  of  affairs  in  Cuba  was  but  indifferently 
known.  The  general  had  just  come  in  from  the  front, 
and  his  first  word  was  one  of  inquiry  of  what  in  par- 
ticular I  wished  to  be  informed,  and  was  told  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  were  deeply  interested  to 
know  what  the  situation  in  Cuba  was  ;  to  hear  upon 
responsible  authority  the  cause  of  the  rebellion  and 
the  extent  of  it.  They  felt  that  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Island  was  at  hand  ;  they  were  interested  to  know 
his  judgment  as  to  the  measure  of  success  of  his  own 
campaign  ;  and,  looking  to  the  new  administration  as  a 
transition,  were  concerned  to  have  expressions  as  to 
the  state  of  the  country  from  the  officer  in  command 
between  Campos  and  Weyler. 

General  Marin  said  he  was  pleased  to  have  the  op- 
portunity of  talking  to  me,  knowing  that  I  was  the 
representative  of  that  part  of  the  press  which  was  seri- 
ous in  matters  of  state  in  the  States,  and  not  of  the 
press  of  a  frivolous  nature.  And  he  recognized  the 
United  States  as  a  great  mass  of  serious  people.  Al- 
though he  was  very  busy,  he  was  willing  to  rob  himself 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  lO/ 

of  some  of  his  time  to  talk  with  one  who  would  speak 
to  the  States.     He  said^ 

As  for  the  character  of  the  war,  it  was  not  like  any  other  contest. 
There  was  offered  in  it  a  chance  for  the  mob  to  join  a  loose,  undisciplined 
army  of  irresponsible  disorderlies,  and  it  was  anarchy  in  a  state  of  semi- 
organization  converting  the  country  people  through  terrorism  into  de- 
stroyers of  property  and  into  spies.  It  was  so  far  anarchism  as  to  pro- 
mote all  devastation  and  fill  the  land  with  every  form  of  violence  and 
outrage. 

The  country  people  at  large  did  not  fear  the  Spanish  troops  because 
they-  were  disciplined  and  observers  of  the  laws  and  of  civilization,  were 
orderly,  responsible  and  humane.  Consequently,  the  people  were  not 
frightened  into  giving  information  to  the  Spanish  army,  but  they  were 
compelled,  through  fear,  to  serve  the  insurgents  as  informers  on  the  least 
provocation,  or  without  any.  The  country  people  were  accused  by  the 
rebels  of  loyalty  to  the  government,  and  were  abused,  if  not  killed,  and 
their  property  destroyed.  When  the  insurgent  forces  arrived  at  a  town, 
which  they  never  held,  they  recruited  all  the  idle  and  evil  men,  and  the 
captain-general  added  that  he  was  glad  the  good  citizens  did  not  join 
them.  So  much  so,  that  he  mentioned  that  the  ex-rebel  chief,  Marcos 
Garcia,  mayor  since  the  last  war  of  Sancti  Spiritu,  has  not  agreed  with 
the  insurgents  who  destroyed  towns  and  scared  the  people  by  threaten- 
ing that  if  they  allowed  the  garrisons  to  be  in  their  midst,  they  were  to 
be  punished  with  fire  and  sword.  Therefore,  as  the  country  was  so 
large  and  the  towns  so  distant  from  each  other,  it  was  a  hard  matter  to 
garrison  the  places  that  needed  protection,  and  at  the  same  time  put  in 
the  field  large  armies. 

The  rebels  had  no  responsibility  for  any  such  thing  as  civilization. 
They  were  the  destroyers,  while  the  Spaniards  were  the  preservers. 

It  did  not  occur  to  a  Spanish  army,  even  when  fighting  in  a  foreign 
country,  to  destroy  towns.  The  Spanish  troops  were  always  willing  to 
fight  and  were  always  brave  and  had  all  the  recources  of  an  established 
government  and  were  always  in  their  place.  They  attacked  the  rebels 
wherever  found  and  always  beat  them,  though  the  insurgents  often  had 
the  greater  numbers. 

The  rebels   had   the  peculiarity  of  considering  their  retreats  victories. 
They  had  no  idea  of  war  as  an  orderly  business.     Now,  war  was  an  art 
and  the  insurgents  had   no  idea  of  it.     They  had   no  knowledge  of  the 
honor  of  arms. 
C-7 


I08  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Maximo  Gomez  tries  to  show  the  world  that  he  is  conducting  a  civil- 
ized campaign  and  does  make  a  pretense  as  to  somethmg  of  that  sort 
after  his  own  fashion  ;  but  that  is  of  little  effect  on  the  bulk  of  his  fol- 
lowers, as  such  ideas  as  he  professes  do  not  get  into  their  heads. 

Here  the  captain-general  repeated  that  the  rebellion  was  a  semi-bar- 
barously  organized  anarchy,  and  that  he  was  a  man  who  respected  ideas. 
In  the  last  war  or  rebellion,  when  the  best  of  the  people  were  mixed 
in  it,  there  had  been  an  idea  behind  the  attempted  revolution,  as  Cuba 
had  not  then  all  the  liberties  Spain  enjoyed.  But  for  this  war  there 
was  really  no  cause,  and  in  his  opinion  Cuba  was  as  free  as  any  other 
country. 

She  enjoyed  a  free  press,  representation  in  the  Cortes,  franchise,  'laws 
and  an  equal  footing  with  the  mother- country. 

Maximo  Gomez,  not  being  a  Cuban,  but  a  foreigner — a  soldier  of 
fortune — and  Maceo,  a  mulatto  with  ambition  and  a  purpose,  were 
natural  leaders  of  anarchism,  with  nothing  to  lose. 

The  captain-general  was  asked  if  he  could  indicate  what  the  policy 
of  his  successor,  General  Weyler,  would  be,  and  he  replied  the  policy  of 
the  general  would  undoubtedly  be  one  of  great  activity  and  energy  ; 
that  he  would  find  much  to  do.  He  had  himself  initiated  a  policy  of 
pressing  hard  upon  the  rebels  with  good  effects. 

General  Marin  was  informed  of  the  anxiety  in  the  United  States  about 
the  probable  duration  of  the  war,  and  was  asked  if  he  could  give  any  im- 
pression as  to  the  time  in  which  it  might  possibly  be  brought  to  a  finish. 
It  was  stated  to  him  also  that  his  reply  to  this  question  would  be  re- 
garded in  the  United  States  as  important. 

The  General  said  a  definite  date  for  the  close  of  the 
war  could  not  be  fixed,  though  there  was  no  doubt  in 
the  world  of  the  ultimate  success  of  Spain  in  re-estab- 
lishing her  authority  all  over  the  Island.  "  The  trouble 
as  to  time  was  that  after  the  last  semblance  of  war 
had  disapeared  still  the  country  would  be  disturbed  by 
bandits,  and  it  would  possibly  be  found  that  getting 
rid  of  them  would  be  tedious." 

It  still  seems  curious  that  this  moderate  and  clear 
exposition  of  the  cause  of  Spain,  eagerly  sought  for  pub- 
lication by  La  Discussion,  a   leading  Havana   journal, 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  IO9 

should  have  been  suppressed  in  Cuba.  One  captain- 
general,  however,  differs  from  another  in  poHcy  as  in 
glory,  and  two  days  after  the  interview  with  Marin  we 
listened  to  the  thunders  from  the  forts  of  the  salutes 
that  greeted  General  Weyler  ;  and  Gomez  was  then  so 
near  Havana  that  it  was  said  he  could  count  the  guns 
and  interpret  their  dull  boom  quite  as  well  as  the 
Spaniards  themselves. 


no  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LEADING    QUESTIONS    OF    RACES    AND    CRIMES. 

The  Blacks  as  Soldiers  and  in  Caricatures — Preoccupation  on  Both  Sides 
in  Cuba  with  the  United  States — Habits  of  Exaggeration — Governor- 
General  Weyler  Interviewed  and  Defends  his  Policy — Too  Much 
Attention  to  Wild  Stories — Brutalities  of  Bandits — The  Machete 
the  Sword  of  Cuba. 

Representations  of  blacks  as  the  rebels-in-chief  and 
cane-burning-  demons  with  forked  toe-nails,  as  they  are 
constantly  caricatured  in  the  dreadful  Spanish  sheets 
alleged  to  be  humorous,  are  not  consistent  with  the 
professions  of  General  Weyler,  who  has  invited  the 
distinction  of  treating  black  men  with  consideration. 
Negro  soldiers  are  often  on  guard  at  the  gates  of  the 
government  palace,  and  I  have  seen  black  workingmen, 
with  personal  errands,  presenting  themselves  in  their 
workday  clothes  at  the  door  of  the  governor's  reception 
room,  and  quickly  admitted. 

When  General  Weyler  was  asked  what  his  policy 
towards  the  negroes  was,  he  said,  "  Just  the  same  as 
to  others."  He  was  not  favorable  to  discrimination  as 
to  color,  and  when  engaged  in  the  war  of  1 868-1 8  78  his 
cavalry  escort  was  of  black  men,  a  fact,  he  said,  "  show- 
ing his  esteem  for  them  as  soldiers." 

The  combatants  on  both  sides  in  Cuba  are  surpris- 
ingly preoccupied  with  the  United  States,  dwelling  in 
conversation  upon  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  and 
the  purposes  of  the  nation.   The  Spaniards  are  not,  as  a 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  Ill 

rule,  prepossessed  in  our  favor,  but  irritated  by  the 
impression  that  we  are  a  perpetual  menace.  They  sus- 
pect when  they  do  not  know,  that  an  American  is  a 
sympathizer  with  the  Cuban  rebellion,  and  if  one  of  our 
people  is  strong  in  his  Spanish  talk,  it  occurs  to  the  aver- 
age Spaniard  that  he  is  doing  it  with  some  selfish  and 
probably  deceptive  and  hostile  design.  The  Spaniards 
are  angered  by  the  intense  interest  the  Cubans  take  in 
what  is  going  on  in  the  United  States.  It  is  not  per- 
mitted to  give  space  in  the  journals  of  Havana  to  the 
proceedings  of  the  American  Congress  that  relate  to  the 
condition  of  the  Island.  One  day  there  came,  by  way 
of  Tampa  and  Key  West,  a  Savannah  paper,  containing 
a  column  of  information  about  one  of  the  resolutions 
and  discussions  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  I 
was  attempting  to  send  by  cable  signed  editorials  eluci- 
dating Cuban  matters,  and  proposed  a  reference  to  the 
contents  of  the  Savannah  paper,  and  to  state  the  mis- 
apprehensions that  all  parties  in  Cuba  entertained  as  to 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  what  was  going  on  at 
Washington.  I  should  not  have  expected  to  be  allowed 
to  print  such  incendiary  matter  as  this  was  from  the 
government  standpoint  in  a  Havana  paper,  but  could 
not  see  the  harm  of  sending  it  by  wire  for  purposes  of 
journalism  in  New  York  ;  and  it  did  not  occur  to  me 
there  would  be  objection  to  the  discharge  of  a  high 
explosive  at  that  distance  from  Havana,  but  there  was. 
My  disquisition  did  not  depart  from  the  "  Pearl  of  the 
Antilles,"  and  was  lost  to  the  North  American  world. 

There  is  something  touching  and  pathetic  in  the  cre- 
dulity of  the  Cubans  regarding  the  matters  most  vital 
to  them.  I  say  Cubans  without  qualification,  for 
they  are  all — with  such  rare  exceptions,  that  we  do  not 


112  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

need  to  note  them — against  the  continuation  of  the  rule 
of  Spain.  Their  distinctions  are  in  degrees  of  des- 
peration. The  present  generation  at  least,  has  grown 
up  in  an  atmosphere  of  rebellion,  and  politics  means 
conspiracy.  They  have  not  lived  generously  on  the 
news  of  the  day,  as  the  Americans  and  Englishmen 
and  Frenchmen  do,  also  the  Germans,  Austrians  and 
Italians  in  a  lesser  degree,  and  their  faculty  of  discrim- 
ination is  not  trained.  The  space  that  should  be 
occupied  exclusively  by  facts  is  largely  reserved  for 
fancies. 

I  was  present  when  some  shocking  news  was  told  by 
an  eye-witness,  who  had  been  personally  engaged  in  a 
bloody  affair,  and  there  were  those  at  hand  filled  with 
excitement,  asking  leading  questions,  when  a  cool  gen- 
tleman, an  American,  with  perfect  command  of  the 
Spanish  language  interposed,  saying :  "  Let  us  get  this 
story  as  it  is;  do  not  try  to  get  him  to  tell  it  any  worse 
than  it  is;  it  is  bad  enough."  Nothing  can  be  stated 
too  wild  to  find  believers,  and  exaggerations  are  heaped 
upon  each  other  until  the  truth  is  lost  even  in  outline. 
A  romance  that  the  Spanish  minister  had  used  money 
to  get  up  a  riot  in  Washington  found  ready  believers; 
so  will  the  wild  fancy  that  Senator  Sherman  was  once 
in  the  slave  trade !  There  were  full  particulars  one 
day  of  a  furious  engagement  near  Havana.  There 
had  been  a  heavy  government  train,  so  the  tale  was 
told,  on  the  way  through  the  disputed  country,  at- 
tacked and  captured  by  Maceo,  when  a  Spanish  col- 
umn came  along  and  the  insurgents  retired  with  cart- 
ridges and  other  spoil,  but  left  thirty  wounded  in  the 
hospital,  all  of  whom  were  murdered  !  All  the  details 
any  one   could  desire  were  furnished.     There  was  no 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  II3 

train,  no  fight,  no  murder — nothing  at  all !  "  Perfectly 
trustworthy "  correspondence  by  secret  lines  of  com- 
munication arrive  stating  highly  important  matters 
altogether  imaginary.  There  is  so  much  confidential 
information,  "  highly  unimportant  if  true,"  that  the 
human  understanding  is  bewildered,  and  a  great  deal  of 
it  finds  its  way  into  print. 

The  Cuban  stories  are  rather  more  fantastic  than  the 
Spanish  official  reports.  This  is  the  result  of  military 
repression,  with  its  smouldering  hates  and  rivalries  and 
jealousies,  and  the  elaborate  hypocrisies,  the  sinister 
finesse  of  malignant  politeness — a  part  of  the  penalty 
of  tyranny. 

It  is  the  Cuban  custom  when  stating  the  grievances 
that  caused  the  war,  to  neglect  the  more  substantial 
grounds  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  Spanish  form  of 
government,  and  tell  of  personal  affronts  and  outrages, 
and  both  sides  are  free  in  charging  against  antagonists 
the  supreme  crime  of  barbarous  and  fiendish  treatment 
of  women.  General  Weyler  has,  above  all,  been  as- 
sailed with  accusations  of  brutalities  that  are  incredible. 
It  would  be  indelicate  to  hint  the  class  of  crimes  that 
one  is  assured  have  more  than  anything  else  disting- 
uished his  career,  and  the  Cubans  are  surprised  if  you 
dare  to  doubt  the  authenticity  of  their  animosity.  They 
go  on  to  implicate  entire  Spanish  regiments  in  criminal- 
ities so  hideous  that  to  the  sober  understanding  they 
seem  preposterous;  and  yet  are  insisted  upon  to  the 
last  detail  of  infamy.  Consideration  for  human  nature 
invites  incredulity. 

The  Spaniards  are  equally  facile  in  their  accusing 
conversation,  and  with  the  list  of  offenses  the  Cubans 
charge  upon  them  they  return  upon  the  Cubans  ;  and 


114  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  first  thing  in  the  indictment  on  their  side,  too,  is 
that  women  have  been  abused.  General  Weyler  in- 
vited questions  and  answered  freely  touching  the  tales 
told  of  himself.  I  do  not  refer  now  so  much  to  the 
general  tempest  of  detraction,  but  to  the  especial  won- 
ders of  cruelty;  and  he  was  fiercely  earnest  in  denounc- 
ing all  representations  of  his  enemies  as  false,  and  said 
it  was  strange  indeed  that  he  should  be  attacked  by 
the  American  newspapers  for  what  he  did  not  do,  and 
at  the  same  time  those  papers  had  only  sympathy  for 
the  rebels  who  committed  all  they  imputed  to  others. 
They  were  themselves  the  firebugs,  the  murderers,  the 
destroyers,  the  ravishers;  and  the  pretense  of  patriotism 
covered  it  all.  He  was  charged  with  having  dozens  of 
prisoners  shot  every  morning — the  rifle  firing  heard 
just  at  day-break — a  crash  of  rifles — a  morning  cere- 
mony— the  bodies  of  the  dead  had  been  seen — the  dis- 
position of  the  bodies  had  been  made  known !  "All 
this  was  imposture  and  false  entirely,"  said  Weyler. 
"  Why,"  said  he,  "  Campos  killed  three  and  I  have  killed 
none  !  not  one ! !  And  I  shall  kill  no  one  unless  it  may 
be  some  guilty  leader  who  has  been  proven  to  deserve 
death." 

I  could  not  doubt  the  truth  of  what  the  captain-gen- 
eral told  me  about  the  killing  of  prisoners — for  those 
who  said  there  were  dozens  shot  daily  named  no  one, 
and  could  not  tell  what  prisoners,  if  any,  were  missing. 
There  could  be  no  reason  for  shooting  obscure  men  in 
secret  save  mere  killing,  and  it  has  not  come  to  that. 
The  prisoner-shooting  stories  located  at  the  fort  were 
not  so,  and  yet  they  turned  up  every  day,  always 
about  the  same.  The  foundation  for  the  persistent 
rumor  seemed  to  be  that  loaded  rifles  were  discharged 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


115 


in  the  morning'.  General  Weyler  said  that  not  only 
had  he  not  ordered  any  executions,  when  no  one 
else  had  a  right  to  do  it,  but  he  would  deal  severe- 
ly with  officers  who  killed  prisoners  without  his  ex- 
press order.  There  have,  however,  since  been  execu- 
tions by  shooting  at  the  fort,  not  consistent  with 
Weyler's  statement.  But  one  who  meant  to  have 
men  shot  as  a  daily  lesson  would  be  very  unlikely 
to  assume  the  personal  responsibility  for  the  execu- 
tions and  proclaim  it  to  the  newspapers  of  the  United 
States  and  all  civilized  lands.  The  monster  Weyler 
is  said  to  be  would  boast  of  his  bloody  work — make 
a  merit  of  assassination,  never  deny  a  crime,  but 
with  the  fallen  fiend  declare :  "  Evil  be  thou  my 
good."  He  has,  however,  the  habit  of  the  Island, 
of  credulity  that  receives  every  tale  of  horrors  commit- 
ted by  the  enemies  as  "the  truth  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,"  and  he  confounds  the  sanguinary  and  incendi- 
ary incidents  of  the  operations  of  the  organized  insurg- 
ents with  the  killings  and  robberies  and  burnings  by 
the  bandits — the  bands  of  mere  outlaws — who  add 
greatly  to  the  aggregate  of  the  mysteries  and  miseries 
of  the  war. 

The  general  was  asked  of  what  military  advantage  it 
would  be  to  the  insurgents  to  be  recognized  as  having 
belligerent  rights,  and  he  answered,  "none  at  all,"  on 
the  contrary  they  would  have  to  stop  their  house  burn- 
ings and  outrages  of  women,  and  he  intimated  that 
was  all  they  knew  how  to  do. 

The  Cubans  have  so  strong  a  case  against  Spain  of 
misgovernment  it  is  a  pity  to  mar  or  shadow  it  by 
obscuring  that  which  is  substantial  with  clouds  of 
romance.     It  is  the  misfortune  of   environment  that 


Il6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

they  do  so,  but  they  think  it  is  only  self-defense  for 
them  to  be  as  romantic  as  the  Spaniards  whose  literary 
labors  in  preparing  history  for  bulletins  are  as  incessant 
as  they  are  inaccurate  and  ineffectual.  I  happened  to 
have  information  that  was  reliable  of  the  preparation  of 
one  Spanish  bulletin  that  was  written  four  times  before 
it  was  permitted  to  go,  and  it  was  not  passed  until  all 
resemblance  to  the  truth  had  been  rubbed  out.  This 
peculiarity  is  not  confined  to  Spanish  official  literature 
in  Cuba.  It  is  one  of  the  familiar  jests  that,  according 
to  the  bulletins,  three  times  the  number  of  insurgents 
engaged  during  the  Carlist  war  were  killed  in  action 
and  counted  dead  on  the  field. 

Spaniards  and  Cubans  do  not  do  themselves  justice, 
in  the  torrents  of  reproaches  and  accusations  with  which 
they  characterize  each  other,  and  express  the  fierce  in- 
tensity of  the  hatreds  they  have  cultivated  for  genera- 
tions, and  that  are  now  inflamed  to  a  degree  unknown 
in  former  times. 

One  reason  for  the  extraordinary  indulgence  of  ani- 
mosity, is  found  in  the  consciousness  of  all  con- 
cerned, that  the  affairs  of  the  contested  island  are 
in  an  extremely  critical  state,  and  that  if  conclusions 
cannot  be  reached,  Spanish  industries  and  the  opulent 
commerce  of  the  country  will  be  totally  destroyed. 

Those  who  have  followed  closely  and  intelligently 
such  histories  as  are  attainable  of  the  course  of  events 
in  Cuba,  are  informed  that  much  importance  is  attached 
to  the  depredations  of  the  bands  of  miscreants  now 
haunting  all  the  provinces,  and  whose  occupation  is 
simply  that  of  murderous  thieves. 

The  fact  that  the  Island  is  infested  by  these  scoun- 
drels is  not  purposely  made  prominent  by  the  combat- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  \\^ 

ants,  who  are  organized,  bear  arms  and  profess  to  be 
fighting  in  a  civihzed  way.  The  Spaniards  charge  the 
outrages  the  vagabonds  are  guilty  of  to  the  rebels,  and 
the  rebels  charge  them  to  the  Spaniards,  and  the  whole 
truth  is  not  mentioned  on  either  side,  for  it  would  wipe 
away  some  of  the  bloody  chapters  of  popular  litera- 
ture. If  a  lot  of  fellows  are  found  by  Spaniards  with 
telegraph  wires  around  their  necks,  dangling  to  trees  or 
telegraph  poles,  the  cry  is  :  "  Here  is  evidence  of  the 
horrible  barbarism  of  the  insurgents.  See  what  Gomez 
or  Maceo  have  been  about  !  These  are  innocent  men,  be- 
cause they  loved  dear  Spain  ! "  If  the  insurgents  ride 
that  way  the  suspended  corpses  naturally  shock  their 
sensibilities,  and  they  point  out  the  testimony  that  the 
"  butcher  and  brute  Weyler  "  has  been  having  patriots 
murdered.  The  truth  is  that  the  ghastly  spectacle 
marks  the  scene  of  the  close  of  the  career  of  some  ban- 
dits, or  means  that  the  bandits  have  been  assassinating 
some  country  people  who  were  passing  that  way,  or  that 
hapless  travelers  have  been  massacred  for  their  clothing 
or  that  which  they  might  have  in  their  pockets. 

Some  of  the  newspaper  men,  in  the  days  when  they 
were  occasionally  permitted  to  pass  the  Spanish  lines, 
made  narrow  escapes  from  robbers  who  have  no  senti- 
ments as  to  the  dominion  of  Spain  or  the  independence 
of  Cuba,  but  have  taken  to  the  road  to  live  by  crim- 
inal courses,  protected  by  the  prevalent  disorder. 
These  wretches  do  more  than  all  the  troops  in  arms, 
however  vicious  and  uncontrollable  many  of  them  are, 
to  give  the  inhabitants  of  the  desolated  Island  a  bad 
name,  and  add  the  fame  of  frightfully  evil  deeds  to 
the  general  disaster  and  augment  to  awful  proportions 
the  horrors  of  war. 


Il8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Early  in  April  there  was  news  from  Havana  of  the 
execution  by  the  garrote  of  five  men,  and  the  cable,  un- 
restrained this  time  by  the  censors,  told  of  the  terrors 
of  the  execution,  and  millions  read  the  hideous  story, 
believing  that  the  ruthless  Spaniards  were  putting  to 
death,  ignominiously,  brave  men  whose  crime  was  pa- 
triotism. In  fact,  the  garrote  was  employed  to  strangle 
a  group  of  murderers  who  engaged  in  robbing  a  farm- 
house, were  taken  red-handed  and  with  the  spoil,  they 
had  gathered. 

It  suits  the  Spaniards  very  well  to  say  these  men  were 
rebel  brigands,  and  it  serves  the  Cubans  a  purpose  in 
harmony  with  their  passionate  desires  to  admit  the  con- 
struction, that  the  Spaniards  have  been  guilty  of  another 
massacre. 

The  military  conditions  of  Cuba  unfortunately  lend 
themselves  to  this  sort  of  mutual  misrepresentation. 
The  columns  of  Spaniards  and  insurgents  are  in  motion 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  all  the  roads  are  unsafe,  while 
many  fugitives  are  fleeing  far  and  near,  hoping  to  find 
places  of  refuge.  The  brigandage  that  is  rife  all  over 
the  Island,  save  the  towns,  where  there  is  at  least  mili- 
tary law,  is  one  of  the  most  deplorable  of  the  misfor- 
tunes of  the  war,  and  will  be  of  the  lingering  results 
of  the  struggle  hardest  to  eradicate.  Whether  the  Span- 
iards or  the  Cubans  are  asked,  and  the  inquiry  is  inces- 
sant, how  long  the  war  will  last,  the  answer  from  both 
sides  is  substantially  the  same.  It  is  impossible  to  say 
how  much  time  will  be  required  to  put  down  the  gangs 
of  robbers,  as  there  is  really  no  cure  for  them  except  to 
hunt  them  and  kill  them. 

The  machete  is  the  sword  of  the  Cuban  soldiers,  and 
will  be  famous  forever.      It  is  not  the  delicate  weapon 


UNIVERSITT 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  121 

sometimes  pictured,  nor  the  mere  cane-knife  that  flour- 
ishes in  the  accounts  of  the  warfare  in  "  the  Pearl  of 
the  Antilles." 

It  is  a  heavy,  straight  sword,  usually  with  a  horn 
handle,  and  without  a  guard,  with  a  fine  edge  on  one 
side  that  curves  to  a  point.  The  back  of  the  big  knife 
is  square  and  solid,  the  prevalent  idea  that  there  is  a 
double  edge  being  an  error.  The  scabbard  is  plain, 
firm  leather,  and  the  belt  that  supports  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
narrow.  There  are  competing  machetes  on  the  market, 
one  made  in  New  England  and  the  other  in  Old  Eng- 
land, and  they  are  alike  good  stuff.  The  scythe-blades 
American  farmers  attach  to  a  wooden  handle,  and  call 
a  corn-knife,  closely  resemble  the  machete  in  looks  and 
use  as  an  agricultural  implement,  only  the  scythe  is  not 
often  straight,  and  the  edge  is  on  the  inner  side  of  the 
curve. 

The  primary  object  of  the  machete  is  not  cutting 
sugar-cane,  as  supposed  by  the  average  citizen,  though 
it  serves  that  purpose  excellently  ;  it  is  in  cutting  paths 
through  tropic  vegetation.  It  is  impossible  to  travel  in 
an  uncultivated  part  of  Cuba,  or  along  a  narrow  road, 
as  most  of  the  roads  are,  without  something  to  cut  away 
the  shrubbery,  the  vines,  the  wild  pine  and  cactus,  and 
the  thousand  thorny  boughs  and  bushes.  The  rebels, 
hastening  across  the  wild  regions,  make  way  for  them- 
selves with  machetes,  and  the  most  effective  stroke  is 
upward,  shaving  away  the  prickly  verdure,  striking  the 
dense,  upreaching  limbs  as  hedges  are  roughly  trim- 
med ;  and  there  is  developed  in  this  habitual  hard  labor 
wonderful  muscular  force  and  expertness  in  delivering  a 
blow  with  the  big  knife,  taking  an  ascending  sweep. 
This  weapon  becomes    perfectly  familiar,  and  to  save 


122  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

an  excessive  strain,  it  is  keen  as  a  razor  and  heavy  as  a 
cleaver.  It  is  about  the  length  of  a  dress-sword,  but 
there  is  variation,  according  to  personal  strength  and 
taste,  of  several  inches,  and  that  is  not  held  important, 
for  the  knife  is  not  used  as  a  fencing-sword  or  a  stabber, 
and  is  in  no  way  like  the  rapier,  or  the  steel  with  which 
the  Romans  conquered  the  world  by  thrusting  under 
their  shields  and  upward  with  the  heavy  dagger  called 
the  sword  of  Rome. 

The  Cubans  handle  the  machete  so  constantly  that 
they  do  it  gracefully  and  deftly,  cutting  open  green 
cocoanuts  with  a  single  blow,  and  without  spilling  a  drop 
of  the  milk  or  touching  their  fingers  ;  and,  it  is  said,  in 
battle  the  Spanish  rifle-barrels  are  sometimes  clipped 
off,  while  it  is  a  common  incident  for  a  soldier  to  lose 
an  arm  at  a  blow.  The  most  dreaded  cut,  the  one 
when  the  blade  rises — the  same  motion  as  in  trimming 
thorn-bushes — is  the  more  terrible  blow  because  it  is 
queer,  and  seems  uncanny,  and  to  be  a  diabolically 
cunning  and  tricky  style  of  fighting. 

There  is  a  peculiar,  wild,  shrill  cry  the  Cubans  give 
that  announces  a  machete  charge — a  "  rebel  yell,"  sure 
enough,  fierce  and  prolonged — and  it  means  going  in  at 
the  high  speed  of  horses,  for  "  war  to  the  knife,"  and 
there  is  no  doubt  and  no  wonder  that  the  Spaniards  are 
alarmed  always  by  that  battle-cry.  There  has  been 
more  hand-to-hand  fighting  in  Cuba  than  in  any  other 
war  of  modern  times. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  1 23 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    ORDERS    AND    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WEYLER. 

A  Vigorous  and  Comprehensive  Series  of  Orders,  Declarations,  Decrees 
and  Commands,  and  Promises  of  Restoration  of  Order  in  these 
Provinces  on  the  15th  of  March — The  Difference  between  the 
Proclamation  and  the  Performance — The  Weyler  Administration 
Signally  Fails — The  Daring  and  Success  of  the  Maceos — A  Hard 
Blow  at  a  Sore  Time  and  Place. 

There  has  been  world-wide  controversy  over  the  pol- 
icy of  Captain-General  Weyler.  The  universal  Cuban 
view  is  singularly  simple  and  radical.  It  is  that  Cam- 
pos was  retired  because  he  would  carry  on  war  with 
methods  not  inconsistent  with  civilization,  and  that 
Weyler  was  appointed  to  be  barbarous.  The  definition 
of  the  truth  about  this  is  important,  and  the  task  of 
being-  just  one  that  is  serious  and  almost  novel,  because 
on  this  point  partisanism  is  at  a  scorching  heat,  and  a 
spirit  of  moderation  is  denounced  as  treason  to  patriot- 
ism, or  uniting  disorder  with  cowardice.  We  have  at 
hand  a  complete  set  of  Weyler's  orders  up  to  the  end  of 
March,  the  first  dated  Feb.  lo,  1896,  and  give  such 
portions  of  them  as  are  characteristic  and  have  caused 
excitement  and  comment.  That  is  to  say,  we  produce 
the  extracts  that  possess  a  degree  of  popular  interest. 
The  first  of  the  Weyler  orders,  addressed  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Cuba,  after  a  reference  to  "  the  difficult 
circumstances  of  the  present  time,"  concluded : 

I  take  charge  of  my  duties  with  the  expectation  ever  constant  in   me 
of  preserving  its  possession    for  Spain,  determined,  as  she  is  in  this  pur- 

f         ^  CFTHE  ^ 

(UNIVERSITt 

V 


124  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

pose,  to  spare  no  kind  of  strenuous  exertions,  of  which  she  is  giving 
evident  proofs. 

For  the  accomplishment  of  said  purpose  I  rely  upon  the  bravery  and 
discipline  of  the  army  and  navy,  the  unshaken  patriotism  of  the  corps  of 
volunteers,  and'  very  particularly  the  true  assistance  that  will  be  ten- 
dered by  the  loyal  inhabitants,  born  here  or  in  the  peninsula. 

It  is  not  to  be  said  here,  for  you  already  know  it,  that  although  I  am 
always  liberal  to  the  vanquished,  and  to  every  one  who  renders  any  ser- 
vices to  the  cause  of  Spain,  I  shall  not  be  found  wanting  in  determina- 
tion and  energy,  which  are  my  characteristics,  to  punish  with  all  the 
severity  sanctioned  by  law  those  who  may  help  the  enemy  in  any  way, 
or  try  to  abate  the  dignity  of  our  national  name. 

Laying  aside  for  the  time  being  all  political  ideas,  my  honorable  mis- 
sion now  is  to  end  the  war,  considering  you  only  as  being  Spaniards, 
who  will  help  me  loyally  to  vanquish  the  insurgent ;  but  I  shall  be  no 
impediment  when  her  majesty's  government,  knowing  what  you  are  and 
what  you  deserve,  and  also  the  state  of  tranquility  that  may  be  attained 
by  these  provinces,  grants  to  you,  in  due  time,  those  reforms  deemed 
proper  in  its  estimation,  doing  this  with  the  good  will  of  a  loving  mother 
toward  her  children. 

Inhabitants  of  Cuba,  assist  me  with  your  efficient  co-operation,  and  by 
so  doing  you  will  protect  your  own  interests,  which  are  identical  with 
those  of  the  fatherland. 

Long  live  Spain  ! 

Long  live  Spanish  Cuba  ! 

Your  Governor-General, 

Valeriano  Weyler, 
Marquis  of  Tenerife. 

Havana,  the  loth  of  February,  1896. 

On  the  same  date  there  was  an  address  issued  to  the 
volunteers  and  firemen — the  firemen  are  a  highly  organ- 
ized and  armed  force — saying  : 

It  is  gratifying  to  me  to  have  been  appointed  your  chief,  for  I  meet 
again  those  volunteers  and  firemen  who  fought  with  me  in  the  last  war, 
and  who,  with  their  bravery,  energy,  and  patriotism,  saved  order,  pro- 
tected the  towns  and  villages,  and  contributed  powerfully  to  preserve 
Cuba  for  Spain. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 25 

This  was  followed  by  an  exhortation  to  continue  to 
do  well,  and  a  promise  of  "perfect  attention"  to  that 
which  volunteers  and  firemen  might  do. 

In  an  address  to  the  "  Soldiers  in  the  Army  of 
Cuba,"  the  captain-general  paid,  rather  unexpectedly, 
this  tribute  to  his  predecessor  : 

My  hope  is,  that  while  under  my  orders,  you  will  continue  giving 
proofs  of  the  courage  and  endurance  which  are  peculiar  to  the  Spanish 
soldier,  and  that  you  will  win  new  victories,  to  be  added  to  those  ob- 
tained by  you  under  the  command  of  my  illustrious  predecessor,  his 
excellency  Captain-General  Martinez  de  Campos. 

February  19th,  the  captain  -  general  addressed  the 
people,  stating  the  fixed  determination  of  Spain  to 
"  overcome  the  insurrection,  and  having  referred  to 
his  "personal  character"  as  an  element  in  affairs,  he 
added : 

It  must  be  quite  clear  to  you  that  the  state  attained  by  the  insurrec- 
tion, and  the  incursion  lately  made  by  the  principal  ringleaders,  in  spite 
of  active  pursuit  by  our  columns,  are  in  some  way  the  effects  of  indiffer- 
ence, fear,  or  discouragement  on  the  part  of  the  people,  for  it  is  hard  to 
understand  why  some  should  remain  passive  while  their  plantations  are 
set  on  fire,  or  otherwise  destroyed,  or  how  some  Peninsulars  can  sym- 
pathize with  the  insurgents. 

It  is  by  all  means  necessary  to  oppose  such  a  condition  of  affairs,  and 
to  reanimate  the  spirits  of  the  citizens  by  making  them  perceive  that  I  am 
equally  determined  to  tender  efficient  protection  to  the  loyal  and  to 
apply  the  law  with  all  its  severity  against  those  who  help  or  exalt  the 
enemy,  or  try  to  abate  the  honor  of  Spain,  or  that  of  the  army  of 
volunteers. 

Then  it  is  also  desirable  that  those  who  are  on  our  side  show  their 
good  disposition  by  their  own  actions  in   such  way  that  no  ground   be 
left  for  doubts,  proving  that  they  are  Spaniards,  for  the  defense  of  the 
fatherland  demands  some  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  her  children. 
C— 8 


126  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

An  order  appeared  in  which  the  general-in-chief  of 
the  army  in  operations  assumed,  according  to  the  code 
of  military  justice,  the  judiciary  authority  belonging  to 
his  civil  capacity,  and  this  was  therefore  decreed  : 

All  prisoners  taken  by  the  troops  during  an  engagement  with  the  enemy 
will  be  submitted  to  summary  proceedings,  for  which  all  judicial  for- 
malities shall  be  avoided  that  are  not  absolutely  indispensable  to  pass 
judgment. 

And  the  captain-general  added  the  declaration  : 

No  capital  sentence  shall  be  executed  until  I  have  received  the  testi- 
monials of  the  sentence,  which  must  be  sent  to  me  immediately,  except 
when  there  is  no  communication,  and  the  sentence  refers  to  the  crime 
of  insult  to  a  superior  officer,  or  military  sedition,  which  will  be  executed, 
afterward  giving  me  information  to  that  effect. 

February  25th  there  was  a  requisition  for  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  number  of  horses  used  for  running  cabs, 
stages  and  tram-cars.  This,  which  had  special  applica- 
tion to  Havana,  to  be  executed  immediately  by  a  com- 
mittee of  military  officers. 

March  3d  was  issued  a  circular  about  the  election  of 
members  of  the  new  Cortes,  whose  functions  commence 
nth  of  May  next,  and  it  was  decreed  that  : 

In  order  that  the  next  elections  be  made  with  complete  liberty  of  ac- 
tion, and  with  total  absence  of  anything  contrary  to  the  extant  princi- 
ples of  legality,  you  should  bear  in  mind  the  following  instructions, 
which  I  deem  necessary  to  carry  out  what  her  majesty's  government 
has  directed.  One  of  said  instructions — perhaps  the  most  important  of 
all — is  that  you  resolutely  prevent  any  interference  with  the  free  will  of 
the  electors,  and  you  will  be  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the  government 
if  you  use  your  prudence  and  diligence  to  realize  that  purpose,  prevent- 
ing any  possible  violence  or  coercion  being  committed  against  the 
voters. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  12/ 

The  captain-general  earnestly  recommended  all  offi- 
cers to  "  stimulate  the  electors  to  make  use  of  this 
right,"  but  "  be  sure  that  the  authorities  depending  on 
the  administration  will  absolutely  abstain  from  exert- 
ing any  action  that  may  afifect  the  independence  of  the 
voting," 

The  election  decree  concludes: 

I  trust  that  your  prudence,  tact  and  energy  will  cause  the  precepts  of 
law  to  be  respected  by  facilitating  the  freest  use  of  suffrage,  and  not 
leaving  unpunished  any  transgression  that  may  be  committed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  elections. 

However,  there  was  no  danger  there  would  be  a  rush 
to  vote  the  "  ensuing  May  "  anywhere  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  government  against  the  government  ! 

March  4th  a  long  decree  was  issued  stringently  regu- 
lating the  sale  of  petroleum,  because  the  insurgents 
used  it  for  incendiary  purposes. 

March  8th  it  was  officially  made  known  by  decree 
of  the  captain-general : 

That,  after  being  pressed  and  defeated  by  our  troops,  the  largest  rebel 
bands  that  were  in  the  provinces  of  Pinar  del  Rio  and  Havana  are  at 
present  demoralized  and  moving  east,  for  which  reason  now  is  the  time 
to  undertake  an  energetic  pursuit  against  the  small  parties  of  bandits, 
rather  than  of  insurgents,  remaining  in  said  provinces. 

Then  followed  elaborate  instructions  very  carefully 
devised — the  main  thing  being  to  reinforce  the  troops 
with  the  civil  guard  to  stop  the  ravages  by  the  rebels 
in  the  western  province — a  precaution  that  shows  the 
captain-general  was  aware  of  the  impending  danger 
that  has  given  him  the  gravest  anxieties  and  inflicted 
upon  the  Spanish  cause  the  most  disheartening  losses. 


128  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  decrees  of  the  captain-general  show  the  inten- 
sity of  his  temper — the  emphasis  of  his  method,  his 
precision  of  phrase,  and  energy  of  expression,  with  the 
fixed  resolution  to  be  thoroughgoing  in  every  respect. 
His  appearances  on  paper  are  quite  formidable,  but 
the  notice  that  the  rebels  were  being  hotly  pursued  was 
followed  by  an  aggressive  campaign  by  the  Maceos 
in  the  western  provinces,  demonstrating  the  failure  of 
the  captain-general  to  enforce  his  authority  even  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Havana. 

The  captain-general  addressed  to  the  generals  of  the 
army  corps,  civil  and  military  governors,  and  chiefs  of 
columns  and  military  commanders,  the  following  severe 
instructions  : 

The  towns  and  villages  must  help  in  the  work  of  their  own  protection, 
and  see  that  no  guides  are  wanting  for  the  Spanish  troops.  They 
should  also  give  all  possible  information  in  regard  to  the  enemy,  if  they 
are  in  the  neighborhood,  and  not  let  it  again  happen  that  the  latter  be 
better  informed  than  ourselves. 

The  energy  and  severity  employed  by  the  enemy  will  mark  our  own 
course  of  conduct,  and  in  every  case  you  will  proceed  to  arrest  and 
place  subject  to  my  disposal,  or  to  submit  to  the  courts,  all  those  who 
by  any  of  the  orders  which  have  been  expressed,  should  help  or  show 
their  sympathy  to  be  with  the  rebels. 

After  public  spirit  has  been  reanimated,  you  should  not  forget  the 
convenience  of  adding  strength  to  the  corps  of  volunteers  and  guerillas 
that  may  be  in  the  district,  without  failing  to  organize  a  guerilla  band 
of  twenty-five  citizens  for  each  battalion  of  the  army,  and  to  propose  to 
me  whatever  you  deem  proper,  directly  or  through  the  authority  upon 
whom  you  depend,  to  realize  my  plan.  But  this  should  not  lead  you  to 
consider  yourselves  authorized  to  decide  anything  which  is  not  prescribed 
by  law  or  by  decree,  unless  it  is  urgently  demanded  by  circumstances. 

I  trust  that  you  will  abide  by  these  instructions,  and  tender  your 
faithful  concurrence  to  the  development  of  my  thoughts,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Spanish  cause. 

Havana^  Feb.  19th,  1896.  Valeriano  Weyler. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 29 

This  order  was  regarded  by  the  Cubans,  sympathetic 
with  the  rebelHon,  as  extremely  menacing  and  vin- 
dictive, as  it  was  plainly  seen  the  purpose  was  forcing 
those  most  anxious  to  pursue  a  neutral  position  to  take 
sides — with,  if  they  acted  according  to  their  sentiments, 
terrible  consequences  to  themselves.  The  news  of  the 
Weyler  appointment  had  appalled  the  Cubans  and  those 
able  to  do  so,  and,  unable  to  enter  the  insurgent  army, 
were  fleeing  to  Mexico  by  hundreds  on  every  steamer 
while  he  was  crossing  the  Atlantic.  The  declaration  of 
February  19th  increased  the  panic,  and  the  public  dis- 
tress was  agonizing. 

Stringent  decrees  were  at  once  issued  threatening: 

All  those  who  invent  or  propagate  by  any  means,  news  which  may 
either  directly  or  indirectly  favor  the  rebellion,  will  be  considered  as 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  against  the  safety  of  the  fatherland.  As  is 
stated  in  Art.  223,  case  6th,  of  the  Code  of  Military  Justice,  inasmuch 
as  they  so  facilitate  the  operations  of  the  enemy. 

The  propagation  of  false  news  was  placed  in  the  list 
of  crimes  with  those  of  burning  houses  and  destroying 
railroads  and  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  and  also: 

Those  who  consent  to  serve  the  enemy  as  guides  if  they  do  not  report 
immediately  to  the  authorities  to  show  that  they  were  compelled  by  force, 
or  at  once  prove  their  loyalty  by  giving  the  troops  any  information  asked 
of  them. 

This  touched  one  of  the  sorest  points  of  the  Span- 
iards, whose  greatest  and  incurable  trouble  is,  the 
rebels  are  constantly  perfectly  informed  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  Spanish  columns  that  have  to  grope  their 
way,  for,  as  a  rule,  the  inhabitants  do  not  tell  on  the 
insurgents  and  are  vigilant  and  untiring  to  report  all 
the  activities  of  the  Spaniards. 


I30 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


The  rigor  of  the  military  law  was  applied  "  to  those 
who  by  means  of  carrier  pigeons,  rockets  or  other  sig- 
nals, send  news  to  the  enemy."  And  in  such  cases  the 
captain-general  said  that  capital  punishment  or  prison 
for  life  "  be  applicable  by  law,  shall  be  tried  in  sum- 
mary proceedings."  The  Spaniards  attached  much 
importance  to  the  use  of  carrier  pigeons,  though  they 
could  hardly  have  done  more  than  suggest  possibilities 
of  furtive  communication. 

This  following  command  caused  a  great  sensation  : 

All  rural  inhabitants  of  the  Sancti  Spiritus  district  and  of  the  province 
of  Puerto  Principe  and  Santiago  de  Cuba,  will  make  their  concentration 
at  the  towns  having  any  division,  brigade,  column,  or  other  troops  of 
the  army,  and  then  get  documents  of  personal  guarantee,  within  eight 
days  after  the  present  decree  has  been  at  the  nearest  township. 

Most  rigorous  regulations  as  to  "passes"  in  the 
country  were  proclaimed,  and  it  was  ordered  that : 

Storekeepers  established  out  in  the  country  will  empty  their  shops, 
and  the  chiefs  of  columns  will  take  such  steps  as  may  favor  the  success 
of  operations  in  regard  to  buildings  or  other  property,  which  while  not 
being  of  considerable  value,  may  afford  shelter  to  the  rebels  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  woods  or  on  the  open  country. 

The  country  stores  were  ordered  to  be  emptied,,  be- 
cause they  were  a  great  resource  for  the  rebels. 

Conceding  the  vigor  of  the  orders  of  the  captain-gen- 
eral, and  the  intimate  knowledge  they  show  of  the  state 
of  the  Island,  as  well  as  his  keen  general  intelligence, 
we  have  to  announce  that  the  failure  of  his  administra- 
tion was  early  declared  by  events  that  were  unavoidable. 

He  was  forced  to  reply  to  the  sugar  makers,  who 
called  and  begged  to  know  when  they  could  grind  cane. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY',  131 

Of  course  he  was  confident,  as  ever  Campos  was,  that 
he  could  soon  accompHsh  great  results,  and,  at  least, 
speedily  restore  order  in  part  of  the  Island.  It  was  his 
policy  first  to  find  the  army,  for  he  said  Campos  had 
attempted  to  get  along  without  a  chief-of-staff,  and  had 
not  kept  books,  so  there  were  many  troops  missing. 
This  had  caused  the  rumor  to  go  far  that  15,000  Spanish 
soldiers  had  disappeared. 

"  Aha  !"  said  some  Cubans,  "  they  have  come  over  to 
us  ;"  and  "Aha!"  said  others,  "they  are  dead,  or  they 
are  fraud  soldiers  put  on  the  roll  to  steal  with  !  "  But 
Campos  had  not  kept  books,  and  Weyler  found  the 
missing  men.  There  were  also  reinforcements  sent  to 
arrive  in  time  to  support  him,  and  it  was  his  policy 
to  press  the  insurgents  to  the  utmost.  He  did  not  spare 
orders  to  rush  the  troops  into  action,  and  thought  for  a 
time  his  ideas  were  being  carried  out  hopefully.  He 
pointed  out  on  his  maps  where  his  columns  had  the 
main  forces  of  the  rebels  surrounded,  and  later  he  had 
them  "  more  surrounded."  He  had  them  moving  east, 
and  he  was  overtaking  them.  "  See  here,"  said  he,  point- 
ing to  the  centre  of  the  province  of  Pinar  del  Rio,  south- 
west of  Havana,  "  they  were,  and,  here,"  sweeping  his 
hand  along  the  map  eastward  far  as  southeast  Matan- 
zas,  "they  are  ;  and  they  must  go  further."  They  were 
bound  for  the  woods  of  Santa  Clara,  he  said. 

This  was  his  state  of  mind,  and  apparently  the  mili- 
tary situation,  when  the  sugar  planters  called  and 
wanted  to  know  what  they  could  depend  upon.  It  was 
an  all-important  question.  If  the  Spanish  government 
could  not  protect  the  sugar  interest,  the  Island  ceased 
to  be  of  value,  and  was  no  longer,  in  a  commercial  sense, 
worth  holding.     It  was  not  a  question  of  the  direct  tax- 


132  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

ation  on  sugar,  but  of  the  trade  of  the  Island — the 
shipment  of  nearly  one  million  tons  of  sugar,  to  pay  for 
the  imports  on  which  the  duties  were  laid  amounting  to 
eighteen  million  dollars  a  year.  The  captain-general 
hesitated,  but  pressed  for  a  business  reply,  and  feeling 
some  of  the  confidence  he  desired  to  inspire,  he  ven- 
tured to  say,  he  could  promise  that  by  the  15th  of 
March  they  might  count  upon  it  that  cane  grinding 
would  be  safe  in  the  three  western  provinces,  and  he 
hoped  also  in  a  part  of  Santa  Clara !  This  was  very 
satisfactory,  and  published,  produced  surprise  and 
cheerfulness.  Why,  of  course,  if  that  was  all  there  was 
of  the  rebellion,  it  would  soon  be  over !  The  captain- 
general,  to  do  him  justice,  had  to  hedge  a  little.  He 
said  the  sugar  men  were  too  enthusiastic  ;  he  was  not 
quite  certain,  but  he  was  greatly  and  confidently  expect- 
ant that  he  would  have  three  provinces,  and,  possibly, 
part  of  another,  in  order  by  the  middle  of  March.  The 
promise,  however,  that  sugar  should  be  ground  safely 
all  over  the  west  end  by  March  15th  was  fixed 
in  the  public  mind,  and  regarded  as  a  test  of  the 
comparative  power  of  the  contending  forces  to  manifest 
themselves  in  the  open  country.  The  Spaniards  were 
assaulting  the  insurgents,  who  were  large  bodies  of 
marauders  roving  about,  using  incendiarism  and  the 
terrorism  of  robbery  and  murder  to  compel  the  secret 
service  of  the  country  people — who  would  be  good 
Spaniards  if  it  were  not  that  they  were  in  fear,  and 
caused  by  panic  to  be  criminals.  All  that  was  required 
was  a  strong  head  and  heart  and  hand,  such  as  Weyler 
possessed,  and  the  legitimate  authorities  would  soon 
regain  their  accustomed  and  ancient  sway  ! 

On  the  other  hand,  the  rebels  had  to  say  that  they 


UNIVERSITY 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  1 35 

actually  held  all  the  Island  but  the  seaside  towns  under 
the  guns  of  ships  of  war,  and  the  garrisoned  places  ; 
and  all  the  garrisoned  towns  were  substantially  be- 
sieged. The  sugar  and  tobacco  interests  were  for  the 
time  destroyed,  and  would  not  be  allowed  to  revive 
while  they  were  sources  of  Spanish  revenue.  Now  this 
was  not  a  matter  of  contention  between  the  official  bul- 
letins and  the  Tampa  and  Key  West  grapevine  dis- 
patches, over  the  results  of  skirmishes  here  and  there 
in  "the  woods."  This  was  a  large  matter  and  some- 
thing positive.  It  was  business.  There  was  a  time 
fixed  in  which  something  palpable  was  to  be  done. 
Whichever  way  the  fortunes  of  the  miserable  war  should 
decide  the  answer  to  be,  there  could  be  no  doubt  as 
to  the  material  and  determining  fact.  There  was  exul- 
tation among  the  insurgents  that  their  enemy  had 
invited  so  conspicuous  a  trial  of  strength,  at  a  time  and 
place  and  in  a  way,  too,  that  gave  them  advantages. 
At  this  moment  the  armies  of  Gomez  and  Maceo  had 
passed  the  fanciful  line  of  the  Spaniards  and  were 
going  east,  and  the  friendly  intelligence  from  their  col- 
umns was  that  they  could  not  get  Cubans  to  fight 
a  great  battle,  and  were  sorely  troubled  by  the  care  of 
wounded  men,  and  had  upon  the  whole  to  get  away 
from  the  hotly  contested  places  and  go  into  retirement 
in  the  fastnesses  of  the  forests  and  swamps  and  moun- 
tains, to  see  what  the  rainy  season  would  do  for  them ! 
There  was  the  regular  report  that  Gomez  was  broken 
down  and  thinking  of  trying  to  escape  from  the  Island 
to  his  home  in  San  Domingo,  and  that  the  Maceos  were 
his  rearguard.  They  were  to  be  regarded  as  fortunate 
to  have  crossed  "the  trochu  !  " 

The  first  act  of  desperate  warfare  was  the  hanging  of 


136  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

a  Spanish  planter  near  Havana,  who  had  been  guilty  of 
carrying  on  farming  operations  without  concern  as 
to  the  insurgent  policy.  He  was  killed,  and  his  cane 
burnt,  and  it  was  proclaimed  the  act  of  a  small  band  of 
desperados  left  behind  for  acts  of  assassination,  arson, 
and  robbery  to  keep-up  a  sham  of  warfare  and  frighten 
the  timid.  The  work  of  destruction  was  carried  on, 
however,  and  when  the  fateful  15th  of  March  had 
passed  it  was  demonstrated  that  sugar  making  was  at 
an  end.  There  was  not  a  district  in  the  Island  in  which 
it  was  safe  to  "grind."'  In  the  first  and  foremost  event 
in  magnitude  of  the  administration  the  captain-general 
had  failed  to  keep  his  word  ;  and  the  strong  Weyler,  like 
the  weak  Campos,  had  been  unable  to  fix  lines  of 
limitation  on  the  surging  sea  of  rebellion.  Wherever 
the  captain-general  had  drawn  a  mark  and  said 
"  thus  far  and  no  further,"  the  waves  had  rolled 
over  the  forbidden  territory.  It  was  soon  seen 
that  the  Maceos  had  not  retired  from  the  west 
end.  Gomez  might  be  "  Oriented,"  but  Maceo  was 
not,  and  then  the  question  arose  whether  the  daring 
rebels  would  not  be  caught  and  crushed  by  the  superior 
Spanish  forces  ;  and  that  is  constantly  threatened. 

Again  the  Spanish  columns  were  used  to  form  a  fence 
of  steel  across  the  Island,  and  once  more  the  rebels  rode 
about  the  country  at  their  pleasure.  Again  the  burning 
cane  fields  reddened  the  southern  sky  as  beheld  from 
Havana.  Again  there  were  merciless  burnings  in  all 
the  provinces  where  military  protection  had  been  prom- 
ised, and  the  priceless  tobacco  plantations  of  the  west 
end  were  utterly  ruined.  And  still  the  Maceos  were 
enabled  to  elude  the  regular  troops,  and  strike  at  vil- 
lages and  towns,  gaining  supplies ;  and  the  broader  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 37 

swath  of  destruction  the  greater  the  number  of.  recruits 
for  the  army  of  independence.  The  captain-general  at 
one  time  said  he  wanted  no  more  men  from  Spain — had 
enough  to  carry  out  his  poUcy  ;  and  he  had,  of  course, 
if  this  was  a  war  of  numbers,  a  clash  of  military  organ- 
izations of  the  modern  kind.  But  it  is  a  war  of  skir- 
mishers, precisely  the  sort  of  war  in  which  Spaniards 
and  their  tropical  children  have  always  distingushed 
themselves,  and  the  rebels  are  resisting  the  army  in  the 
jungles  of  Cuba,  and  in  the  broad  plantations,  too,  by 
their  remarkable  mobility,  as  the  Seminole  Indians  in 
the  everglades  of  Florida  baffled  our  regulars.  The 
captain-general,  after  a  further  study  of  the  situation, 
concluded  he  wanted  a  few  more  batallions  of  cavalry, 
and  they  will  not  be  able  to  cope  with  the  veteran  insur- 
gents, while  Maceo,  receiving,  we  presume,  the  car- 
tridges landed  from  the  Bermuda  in  strange  security 
from  the  Spanish  cruisers,  suddenly  changed  his  tactics 
and  had  startling  success  in  aggressive  movements  just 
at  the  time  and  place  where  his  blows  inflict  the  great- 
est possible  damage  to  the  Spanish  cause,  but  in  doing 
so  he  may  have  held  Spaniards  in  too  light  esteem,  for 
there  is  an  unusual  tone  of  confidence  in  the  cables  that 
he  is  hard  pressed. 


138  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    FORCES    NOW    ENGAGED    IN    CUBA. 

The  Conduct  of  the  War — Spanish  Force  Almost  200,000  Armed  Men — 
65,000  Cubans  in  Arms,  but  Poorly  Armed — Cavalry  a  Most  Im- 
portant Factor — Sanitary  Regulations  Lessen  Spanish  Loss  by  Sick- 
ness—Opinions of  Experts — Suggestions  of  Strategy— Statistics  of 
the  Population  of  Combatants. — Women  in  the  Army  for  Protection. 

The  Spanish  army  in  Cuba,  at  the  beginning  of  this 
war,  numbered  17,000,  and  amounted,  with  the  rein- 
forcements, Jan.  I,  1896,  to  119,000.  Since  that  date 
there  have  been  large  accessions,  so  that  taking  account 
of  losses  there  are,  of  Spanish  regulars  at  the  seat  of 
war,  not  less  than  130,000.  There  is  to  be  added  63,000 
volunteers  guarding  the  various  cities,  and  with  the 
military  police  and  the  navy,  the  Spanish  force  pressing 
upon  Cuba  exceeds  considerably  200,000  armed  men. 

The  resources  of  Spain  in  population  are  : 

Spain's  total  population 18,000,000 

Number  having  no  profession,  of  which  6,764,406 

are  females  and  1,963,113  are  males 8,727,519 

Men  engaged  in  agriculture . . . .  „ 4,033,391 

Women  engaged  in  agriculture 828,531 

The  industrial  census  is  insignificant  compared  to 

the  agricultural. 

Public  office-holders 97)257 

Prisoners , 64,000 

Professors  and  school-teachers  (male) 24,642 

"           *'              "              (female) 14,490 

People  attending  school  (male) 1,009,810 

'*              "             "      (female) 719,100 

Physicians 20,474 

Lady  Physicians 78 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  I  39 

Literary  writers  (male) 1,171 

"             "      (female) 74 

Actors  and  actresses 3,497 

Servants  (male) " 89,958 

(female) 3i9»956 

Professional  beggars  (male) 39,279 

*'       (female) 51,946 

Priests  and  friars 43,5 28 

Nuns 28,549 

Spaniards  who  read  and  write  (male).  .3,417,855 


(male).  .3,417,855  ) 

(female). 2, 686,615  )      ^''°4,47o 


The  population  of  Cuba  is  between  1,600,000  and 
1,700,000,  and  there  are  not  less  than  50,000  men  serv- 
ing the  Cuban  cause  in  the  field,  and  they  claim  65,000, 
an  enormous  proportion  of  the  available  population. 

A  Spanish  military  expert  in  a  Madrid  journal,  has 
given  a  very  interesting  and  generally  accurate,  though 
manifestly  prejudiced,  account  of  the  character  of  the 
war.     He  says  : 

Had  we  in  Cuba  a  large  force  of  cavalry  when  the  revolution  started, 
things  would  have  taken  another  turn.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  nothing 
has  been  done  to  remedy  this  defect. 

What  are  the  tactics  employed  in  the  present  war  ?  Is  there  anything 
new  about  them,  anything  extraordinary  ?     Not  a  thing. 

In  this,  as  in  the  last  war,  the  only  means  of  action  is  the  horse. 
They  ride  incessantly  here  and  there,  and  when  their  horses  are  tired, 
they  seize  any  they  come  across.  They  frequently  rest  during  the  day, 
and  march  at  night,  in  as  light  order  as  possible,  carrying  only  a  ham- 
mock, a  piece  of  oilcloth,  cartridges,  machete  and  rifle.  They  live  by 
marauding.  The  country  people  feed  them,  and  help  them  so  far  as 
they  can,  and  where  these  insurgents  don't  find  sympathy,  the  machete, 
the  torch  and  the  rope  are  good  arguments.  In  the  woods  they  find 
good  shelter,  places  for  storage  and  for  hospitals. 

They  are  divided  in  groups,  more  or  less  numerous,  to  which  they  give 
the  pompous  names  of  regiments  and  brigades,  and  they  never  accept 
fight  unless  their  number  is  far  superior  to  that  of  our  troops.  They 
place  themselves  in  ambush,  selecting  narrow  passages  in  the  woods. 


140  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

fords  and  lagoons.  They  always  run  after  firing,  and  if  pursued,  they 
leave  a  small  body  charged  with  firing  on  their  pursuers,  while  the  main 
body  advances  rapidly  and  then  stops,  and,  by  circling  around,  get  to 
the  rear  of  our  troops  and  harrass  them.  When  they  go  a  long  distance, 
they  divide  into  small  parties,  make  the  journey  at  night  in  the  woods, 
and  then  the  several  groups  assemble,  until  necessity  compels  them  to 
part  again,  and  meet  anew  on  a  preconcerted  spot.  Their  infantry  is 
always  in  loose  order,  hiding  among  the  bushes,  and  always  protected 
by  the  cavalry.  At  times  a  group  separates  from  the  main  body,  the 
mission  being  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  government  troops,  while 
the  main  body  charges  '■'■  al  machete^  Such  are  the  insurgents  of  Cuba, 
and  their  ways  of  fighting. 

Let  us,  the  expert  says,  consider  the  best  means  of  be- 
ing rid  of  them,  and  he  makes  these  propositions,  show- 
ing the  nature  of  the  war  raging. 

ist.  Deprive  them  of  mobility  by  seizing  their  horses,  and  then  pre- 
vent them  from  getting  others. 

2d.  Deprive  them  of  their  resources  by  destroying  all  the  fruit  trees, 
and  killing  all  the  cattle. 

3d,  To  end  the  espionage,  concentrate  the  population  of  the  country, 
and  punish  severely  those  who  serve  the  insurgents  as  spies,  messengers 
or  correspondents. 

4th.  See  that  they  do  not  receive  munitions  of  war  or  provisions,  by 
watching  closely  the  coast  and  the  environments  of  the  cities,  especially 
the  {X)ints  near  railroads. . 

5th.  Divide  and  demoralize  them,  so  far  as  possible,  with  a  vigorous 
and  constant  persecution,  especially  with  calvary  and  infantry,  mounted 
temporarily  on  horses. 

6th.  Prevent  them  from  having  any  advantage  in  combats,  by  sup- 
pressing all  detachments  not  of  absolute  necessity,  to  give  the  columns 
freedom  of  play,  and  in  case  the  rebels  divide  into  parties,  in  like  manner 
divide  the  troops  to  pursue  them. 

7th.  Stop  their  tactics  of  ambush  and  their  false  retreats,  by  means  of 
constant  flanks,  either  double  or  simple,  and  do  not  pursue  them  with- 
out echeloned  reserves. 

8th.  Prevent  them  from  passing  freely  from  one  province  to  another  by 
use  of  long  lines  of  troops,  duly  garrisoned  and  fortified,  and  with  easy 
means  of  communication  established  in  all  of  the  largest  part  of  its  length. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  I4I 

9th.  Prevent  them  from  surrendering  and  then  returning  to  the  field  of 
war  again. 

loth.  To  demoralize  the  insurgents,  make  a  point  of  capturing  their 
chiefs  and  their  confederates,  who,  while  not  in  the  fighting  ranks,  are 
ready  to  help  them  whenever  the  opportunity  occurs. 

The  final  recommendations  of  this  writer  are  to  con- 
duct operations  with  secrecy,  to  carry  on  correspond- 
ence in  cipher,  with  the  keys  often  changed  ;  to  forbid 
newspaper  correspondents  to  be  with  troops,  and  to  take 
possession  of  all  carrier  pigeons  ;  and  he  says  : 

"It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  organization  of  a 
good  body  of  guides  and  confidents,  remunerated  liber- 
ally and  with  guaranty  of  secrecy,  is  indispensable  in 
all  wars,  and  in  this  of  Cuba  more  especially." 

There  arrived  in  Cuba  from  Spain,  during  the  war 
from  1868  to  1878,  166,228  soldiers.  In  1869,  29,717 
arrived  ;  in  1875,  26,401  ;  in  1876  there  were  36,355 
arrivals.  The  whole  number  were  not  in  the  Island  at 
one  time.  The  losses  in  the  field  and  by  sickness  were 
large,  and  also  the  returns  to  Spain  on  the  expiration 
of  service. 

The  following  figures  are  official,  and  the  terrible 
showing  is  made  that  out  of  90,245  Spanish  soldiers  in 
Cuba,  in  1877,  there  were  17,677  deaths. 

Died.      Per  cent. 

In  1869,  of  35,570 5,504  14.56 

In  1870,  of  47,242 9,395  14.82 

In  187 1,  of  55,357 6,574  13.61 

In  1872,  of  58,708 7,780  14.56 

In  1873,  of  52,500 5,902  13.00 

In  1874,  of  62,572 5,923  18.22 

In  1875,  of  63,212 6,361  13-60 

In  1876,  of  78,099 8,482  14-44 

In  1877,  of  90,245 17,677  17-40 

In  1878,  of  81,700 7,500  10.89 


142  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  yellow  fever  was  especially  violent  in  1877,  as 
will  be  remembered,  and  broke  out  in  the  United  States 
the  following  year.  The  Spaniards  claim  that  they 
have  so  improved  the  sanitary  state  of  the  army  that 
they  lose  fewer  men  now  with  130,000  men  on  the 
rolls  than  they  did  in  the  former  war  with  one-third 
that  number  ;  that  is,  they  lose  now  four  to  five  per 
cent.,  when  in  former  years  the  loss  was  near  twenty 
per  cent.,  and  they  give  these  figures. 

The  dead  by  actions  of  war  in  the  previous  war  was  8^  per  cent. ;  the 
sick  9^  per  cent. 

Of  the  infantry  and  cavalry  1,017  ofificers  perished,  and  other  arms  of 
the  war,  250. 

The  marine  infantry  had  3,240  loss,  crews  of  warships,  1,758,  and  vol- 
unteers, 5,000. 

The  losses  of  officers  in  relation  to  the  troops  was  5  percent,  inactions 
of  war,  and  12.3  per  cent,  in  sickness. 

One  reason  for  the  betterment  of  the  sanitary  condi- 
tion of  the  Spanish  army  is  the  vigorous  enforcement 
of  regulations  forbidding  the  excessive  indulgence  in 
fruit,  which  was  the  habit  of  the  men  newly  arrived. 
This,  with  their  exposure  on  muddy  roads  and  grounds, 
in  the  hot  and  rainy  season,  caused  the  pestilence  to  be 
so  fatal. 

This  is  very  important,  especially  from  the  Cuban 
point  of  view,  as  they  depend  a  good  deal  on  the 
"  friendly  fever,"  as  they  grimly  call  it,  saying  it  is  a 
strong  ally  of  the  cause  of  liberty.  In  the  manifesto 
of  the  Cuban  revolutionary  party  to  the  United  States, 
signed  by  Enrique  Jos  Varona,  we  read  of  the  ten  years' 
war,  "  Blood  ran  in  torrents.  Public  wealth  disappeared 
in  a  bottomless  abyss.  Two  hundred  thousand  Span- 
iards perished.     Whole    districts    of    Cuba    were    left 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 43 

almost  without  male  population."  The  whole  number 
of  men  lost,  and  the  amount  of  money  spent  are  over- 
stated; but  all  excesses  of  estimate  removed,  the  aggre- 
gates are  appalling,  and  show  how  ruinous  the  misgov- 
ernment  of  Cuba  is,  both  to  the  peninsula  of  the  home 
country  and  the  Island  that  fights  to  be  free. 

In  the  calculations  that  the  thoughtful  will  make  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  figures,  it  should  be  noted 
and  studied  that  the  war  that  broke  out  in  1895  is  far 
more  expensive  in  money  and  destructive  of  life  than 
that  which  closed  in  1878.  The  losses  of  this  war  as 
compared  with  that  are  three  times  as  great.  This  pro- 
portion stands,  if  appUed  to  the  extent  of  the  country 
wasted,  the  sugar  and  tobacco  fields  burned  and  tram- 
pled, and  the  combatants  engaged  on  both  sides.  With 
this  in  mind,  the  rate  at  which  the  Spaniards  and 
Cubans  are  rushing  in  the  strife  of  mutual  destruction 
to  ruin  becomes  frightfully  evident. 

THE  CUBANS  GOOD  HORSEMEN. 

The  strength  of  the  Cuban  insurgents,  the  secret  of 
the  surprising  fight  they  have  made,  surrounded  as  they 
are  by  the  Spanish  fleets  and  armies,  is  in  their  horses 
and  swords.  Many  thousands  are  as  good  horsemen  as 
the  world  has  seen — equal  to  the  Cossacks  or  the  cow- 
boys— and  the  Spaniards,  when  mounted,  are  no  match 
for  them,  for  the  Spanish  peasantry  do  not  live  on 
horseback.  The  insurgents  have  a  few  thousand  good 
rifles  and  are  well  provided  with  pistols,  but  they  have 
never  had  a  fair  supply  of  cartridges.  The  best  modern 
arms  are  but  clubs  unless  the  ammunition  is  expressly 
manufactured  for  them.  This,  and  the  fact  that  the 
Cubans  cannot  take  care  of  their  wounded  except  by 

C-9 


144  ^^^  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

carrying-  them  to  hiding  places,  is  the  explanation  of  the 
often  elusive  policy  of  rebel  commanders  in  the  field. 
The  stroke  of  business  that  it  is  the  joy  of  the  Cubans 
to  perform,  is  to  harrass  and  develop  the  Spaniards  with 
a  skirmish  fire,  picking  off  the  officers  by  sharp-shoot- 
ing, and,  if  a  favorable  opportunity  offers,  to  ride  in, 
sword  in  hand — and  the  sword  is  the  dreadful  machete, 
a  weapon  capitally  drawn  by  the  artist.  On  ahorse, 
with  this  tremendous  knife  uplifted,  the  Cuban  rebel  is 
at  his  best,  and  there  never  was  cavalry  more  formid- 
able. It  is  this  horseback  and  machete  method  of  fight- 
ing that  the  mulatto  brothers,  the  Maceos,  prefer  and 
that  has  made  them  terrors  as  well  as  heroes. 

AMBUSCADES    FREQUENT    AND    EFFECTIVE. 

The  nature  of  the  warfare  between  many  columns  of 
Spaniards  and  squadrons  of  insurgents,  cavalry  and 
companies  of  footmen  is  such  that  there  are  numerous 
incidents  of  ambuscade  skirmishes  that  are  games  of 
hide-and-seek,  and  of  deadly  encounters  hand  to  hand, 
and  also  of  long-range  firing,  when  the  Spaniards  have 
the  advantage,  through  abundant  cartridges,  of  making 
the  most  smoke  and  having  the  greatest  obscurity  in 
which  to  prepare  picturesque  reports.  The  insurgents 
have  become  experts  in  barricades  and  devices  of  rough 
fortifications  for  their  protection,  which  may  be  for- 
given them  as  fighting  men,  for  there  never  was  a  war 
not  utterly  savage  in  which  the  wounded  were  so  ill- 
cared  for. 

WOMEN    IN    THE    CUBAN    FORCES. 

There  has  been  so  much  that  is  imaginary  in  regard 
to  the  Cuban  war  made  to  serve  as  true  to  fact,  that 


WOMEN  CAVAI^Y. 


(MS) 


'  OF  THE 

VERSITY 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 47 

some  of  the  really  queer  things  occuring  are  not  respect- 
fully received.  At  first  no  one  believed,  who  had  not 
seen  them,  that  there  were  women  in  the  Cuban  army;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  about  it.  They  are  not  at  all  miscalled 
Amazons,  for  they  are  warlike  women  and  do  not  shun 
fighting,  the  difficulty  in  employing  them  being  that 
they  are  insanely  brave.  When  they  ride  into  battle 
they  become  exalted  and  are  dangerous  creatures. 
Those  who  first  joined  the  forces  on  the  field  were  the 
wives  of  men  belonging  in  the  army,  and  their  purpose 
was  rather  to  be  protected  than  to  become  heroines  and 
avengers.  It  shows  the  state  of  the  Island  that  the 
women  find  the  army  the  safest  place  for  them;  With 
the  men  saved  from  the  plantations  and  the  murderous 
bandits  infesting  the  roads  and  committing  every 
lamentable  outrage  upon  the  helpless  —  some  of  the 
high-spirited  Cuban  women  followed  their  husbands, 
and  the  example  has  been  followed  and  some,  instead 
of  consenting  to  be  protected,  have  taken  up  the  fashion 
of  fighting. 


148  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CUBAN    GOVERNMENT. 

Cubitas  the  Capital — A  Letter  from  the  President — Proclamation  and 
Letter  froni  Gomez,  the  Hero  of  the  War,  and  a  Letter  from 
Maceo. 

The  patriots  of  Cuba  locate  their  government  at 
Cubitas,  and  claim  its  permanency  there  since  about  six 
months  after  the  beginning  of  the  war,  which  was  de- 
clared Feb.  24,  1895.  The  recommendation  of  the  place 
is  that  it  is  beyond  the  range  of  Spanish  artillery,  and 
where  it  cannot  be  reached  by  the  forces  of  the  govern- 
ment without  extreme  agility  and  effort  along  moun- 
tain paths  and  passes,  through  endless  ambuscades;  and 
then  there  would  be  nothing  important  found,  the  few 
papers  being  easily  removed,  and  possibly  destroyed 
without  much  loss,  save  in  matters  of  form. 

There  have  been  several  reports  that  Spanish  expedi- 
tions were  on  the  way  to  capture  this  capital,  but  per- 
haps there  would  be  a  demand  for  guides  that  could  not 
be  met.  There  has  been  a  strong  suspicion  that  the 
capital  city  was  like  the  headquarters  of  General  Pope's 
army,  "in  the  saddle,"  and  this  was  not  necessarily  said 
in  derision  or  serious  disrespect,  for  it  is  certain  the  real 
objective  point  of  Spain  in  putting  down  the  rebellion 
is  not  the  capital,  but  the  camp,^  as  the  head  of  the  re- 
bellion is  not  the  president,  but  the  general-in-chief. 

This  is  but  a  parallel  to  General  Grant's  policy  in  Vir- 
ginia, which  was  not  the  taking  of  Richmond,  but  the 
destruction  of  General  Lee's  armv. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  1 49 

Recently  a  letter  has  appeared  in  the  journals,  dated 
"  Executive  Headquarters,  Republic  of  Cuba,  Cubitas, 
March  17th.  This  paper,  published  in  the  New  York 
Times,  closes : 

You  ask  me  for  my  views  regarding  annexation.  The  fact  that  I  am, 
and  for  nearly  twenty  years  have  been,  an  American  citizen,  and  more 
proud  of  it  than  of  anything  else  connected  with  earthly  things,  should  in 
itself  be  sufficient  to  give  a  proper  idea  of  my  feelings  upon  that  question. 

Cuba  is  properly  American — so  much  so  as  is  Long  Island — and  I  be- 
lieve there  can  be  but  one  ultimate  disposition  of  it — to  be  included  in 
the  great  American  sisterhood  of  states.  I  am  not  authorized  to  speak 
for  Generals  Gomez  and  Maceo,  or,  in  fact,  for  any  of  the  other  leaders  of 
the  rebellion,  but  I  do  know  that  each  and  all  are  intensely  American  in 
hope  and  sentiment.  In  closing,  let  me  again  thank  your  paper,  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  Cuba,  for  its  noble  stand  in  the  holy  cause  of  lib- 
erty. And  allow  me  to  extend,  through  your  influential  journal,  an  in- 
vitation to  the  American  government  to  send  a  representative  to  Cubitas. 

Salvator  Cisneras-Betoncourt, 

President. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Cuban  president  claims  to 
be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  !  Some  of  these  gen- 
tlemen have  latitudinarian  views  of  the  obligations  of 
citizenship. 

Maximo  Gomez,  the  generalissimo  of  the  army  of 
liberation  of  Cuba,  issued  a  proclamation  last  Decem- 
ber, which  is  very  characteristic  of  the  man,  and  most 
interesting  for  its  expression  of  individuality,  rugged 
force  in  definition  of  policy,  and  the  most  particular  and 
striking  vindication  of  his  character  that  has  anywhere 
appeared.  In  the  beginning  of  that  year  Jose  Marti,  the 
president  of  the  Cuban  revolutionary  government, 
called  at  the  door  of  Gomez's  humble  house  in  Monte 
Christo,  San  Domingo,  and  honored  him  by  depositing 
in  his  hands  the  command  and  organization  of  the  army 


ISO  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

of  the  liberation  of  Cuba.  In  opening  his  proclamation 
he  says  :  "  When,  at  seventy-two  years  of  age,  I  decided 
to  abandon  my  large  family,  in  whose  company  I  was 
living  calmly  and  happily  ;  when,  in  a  word,  I  was  em- 
barking myself  on  the  coast  of  San  Domingo  to  come 
back  to  my  idolized  Cuba,  I  could  not  hide  the  emo- 
tions that  took  possession  of  me,  nor  could  I  make  allu- 
sions to  the  magnitude  of  the  colossal  enterprise  that  I 
was  about  to  undertake.  Born,  educated,  and  having 
spent  the  greater  part  of  my  existence  on  the  field  of 
battle,  it  was  not  possible  for  me  to  ignore  the  question 
as  to  what  kind  of  men  would  form  my  army,  and 
against  what  kind  of  an  enemy  I  had  to  fight  in  order 
to  fulfill  what  I  had  promised  on  my  word  of  honor, 
that  if  I  did  not  die,  I  would  have  Cuba  as  soon  as 
possible  among  the  free  nations." 

He  added  it  was  impossible  that  the  expressions  of 
Spanish  resentment  against  him  and  the  reflections  of 
the  Autonomistic  party  should  fail  to  reach  his  ears. 
The  Spanish  claimed  that  he  was  a  traitor.  He  does 
not  deny  having  served  as  a  major  in  the  Spanish 
reserve,  but  having  resigned  when  the  glorious  outcry 
of  "Yarra"  was  raised,  he  feels  he  was  free  to  join 
Cuban  forces. 

In  respect  to  the  Autonomistic  party,  which  calls  him 
an  adventurer,  he  says,  "Ah  !  The  men  who  fought  for 
half  a  score  of  years  to  give  them  a  nation,  honor,  and 
liberty;  an  adventurer  ?  The  one  who  gained  with  his 
own  blood  the  first  rank  in  that  army  which  filled  the 
world  with  admiration  for  its  persistency  and  courage; 
an  adventurer  ?  The  one  who  abandoned  his  own 
happy  land  without  accepting  the  rich  booty  to  which 
the  shameful  peace  of  the  Zanjon  invited  him;  an  ad- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  I51 

venturer  ?  The  one  who  could  have  offered  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  his  non-return  his  many  years  and  the  conse- 
quent fatigue,  he  who  abandons  everything  and  flies  to 
occupy  the  place  that  his  own  brothers  had  reserved  for 
him  ?  Ah  !  He  cannot  be  an  adventurer,  who,  loaded 
with  years  and  troubles,  remembers  still,  as  if  were  his 
own,  the  vow  made  by  Cespades  and  Agramonte, 
twenty-seven  years  ago,  *  to  vanquish  or  to  die.' " 

But  these  offenses  he  feels  are  mitigated  by  the  fact 
that  his  army  is  filled  with  physicians,  lawyers,  mer- 
chants, engineers,  farmers  and  mechanics,  who  when 
necessity  obliges,  know  how  to  change  the  tools  which 
give  them  their  living  for  the  machete  and  the  rifle,  a 
race  whose  acts  make  him  forget  all  ingratitude. 

Up  to  December  he  has  been  busy  with  the  organi- 
zation, and  sees  how  far  the  army  of  liberation,  com- 
posed of  50,000  men,  may  reach.  "  I  have,"  he  said, 
"  complete  confidence  in  my  general  staff,  am  sure  of 
the  support  of  the  Cuban  colonies  in  foreign  countries, 
who  collect  about  $300,000  monthly.  I  never  think  of 
belligerency  to  attain  victory;  if  they  recognize  it,  all 
right  ;  if  they  do  not,  we  will  achieve  the  liberty  of  Cuba. 

"It  does  not  matter  to  me  that  120,000  soldiers  are 
sent  here  by  the  government;  of  these,  50,000  are  only 
unhappy  beings  sent  here  as  military  -show;  20,000 
from  20  to  25  years  old  whom  I  classify  as  half  troop, 
for  they  only  give  results  as  detachments  and  there  re- 
mains 40,000  good  men  from  25  to  40  years  old,  while 
it  is  not  necessary  to  mention  the  10,000  who  belong  to 
the  number  of  the  deceased  either  by  bullet,  dynamite, 
machete  or  sickness." 

It  entered  into  Gomez's  calculation  that  Spain  might 
send  40,000  additional  men,  making  80,000  good  sol- 


152  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

diers  against  him,  but  he  does  not  beheve  soldiers 
trained  to  operate  in  Europe  can  attain  results  in  Cuba, 
because  of.  its  gigantic  mountains,  the  impenetrable 
thickets,  the  doleful  plains,  and  the  secret  paths. 

His  "  soul  grows  sad  "  in  thinking  of  the  "  criminal 
government  that  sends  thousands  and  thousands  of 
men,  who  come,  like  an  innocent  flock,  to  find  their 
death  in  a  country  which  they  do  not  know,"  where  every- 
thing and  every  one  is  against  them,  and  not  knowing 
the  infamy  which  they  are  to  defend. 

He  exclaims  :  "  Unfortunate  government,  where  are 
you  going  to  replace  that  youth  the  nation  loaned 
you  ?  Do  you  not  understand  that  you  cannot  conquer 
an  army  that  fights  of  free  will  ?  .  .  .  Are  you  not 
horrified  with  the  load  of  responsibility  of  burying  in 
Cuba  10,000  Spaniards  ;  but  what  can  we  do  ?  They 
have  made  up  their  minds  to  fight,  and  we  will  fight, 
though  I  cannot  realize  what  is  going  to  become  of  so 
many  people  when  the  government  will  have  no  more 
with  which  to  negotiate  loans,  like  the  one  lately  made 
in  Paris,  at  five  per  cent,  and  half  of  brokerage,  where 
the  national  treasury  has  had  to  give  as  a  guarantee 
Cuba,  when  the  French  can  obtain  millions  at  one  per 
cent,  with  common  guarantees. 

Gomez  believes  that  the  Spanish  soldiers  will  not 
fight  without  their  pay,  and  that  if  he  successfully 
passes  the  winter,  and  strikes  that  army  in  the  summer, 
because  of  hunger  and  their  destitute  condition,  entire 
battalions,  and  some  of  the  forty-two  generals  of  the 
Spanish  army,  with  their  deep  military  knowledge,  will 
pass  over  to  his  side  and  increase  his  army. 

The  Cuban  army,  he  says,  will  open  their  arms  and 
accept  every  one  who  is  willing  to  live  in  Cuba,  happy 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  I  53 

and  tranquil ;  but  until  that  happy  day  arrives  he  finds 
himself,  as  general-in-chief,  obliged  to  dictate  painful 
measures  to  assure  the  execution  of  his  plans.  It  is 
necessary,  he  claims,  to  destroy  the  railroad  lines,  to 
cause  the  Spanish  soldiers  to  make  long  journeys;  to 
fatigue  them  and  wear  them  out ;  to  destroy  by  fire 
such  places  as  might  help  the  enemy :  to  burn  the 
sugar  cane  and  destroy  the  plantations,  and  he  advises 
those  who  are  not  with  the  revolution  to  go  to  the 
cities.  Spain  will  be  the  responsible  party  for  the  des- 
olation. He  promises  to  treat  prisoners  with  respect, 
and  to  meet  the  cowardly  conduct  of  the  Spanish  in 
shooting  his  officers  by  pardoning  theirs. 

In  conclusion  he  says :  "  What  will  be  the  future  of 
these  unhappy  people  if  the  Spanish  are  triumphant  ? 
The  rural  elements  being  absolutely  destroyed,  their 
cities  having  been  the  scene  of  the  most  frightful  mis- 
ery; with  the  debt  of  the  past  war  and  that  of  the  pres- 
ent, which  will  amount  to  as  much  as  $500,000,000; 
having  to  maintain  an  army  of  50,000  men,  in  order  to 
annihilate  the  Cuban  race  so  that  they  will  not  think 
of  repeating  the  disaster,  every  one  who  is  able  to  do 
so  will  emigrate  before  so  much  misfortune ;  and  there 
remains  no  solution  but  to  turn  their  eyes  towards  the 
revolution,  thus  after  a  few  years  making  Cuba,  which 
is  a  young  and  rich  people,  the  most  enviable  country 
on  earth.  In  its  government  they  will  have  a  place  in 
which  all  the  honest  men  may  find  a  home  without  its 
being  necessary  to  say  from  whence  they  came;  a  gov- 
ernment which  constitutes  itself  without  debt,  without 
any  compromise,  and  upon  the  basis  of  republican  lib- 
erty, has  to  be  prosperous,  rich  and  happy,  because 
they  follow  the  doctrines  of  Christ. 


154 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


"  And  we  will  conquer  and  be  free,  cost  what  it  may, 
or  happen  what  will,  and  though  we  have  to  raise  a 
hospital  in  each  corner  and  a  tomb  in  each  home." 

A  letter  from  Gomez,  dated  March  15th,  said  to  have 
been  written  near  the  Matanzas  border,  was  secured 
by  John  T.  Rays,  an  American  on  the  staff  of  the  rebel 
commander-in-chief,  and  delivered  by  him  to  an  insur- 
gent mail-carrier,  at  a  point  not  more  than  twelve  miles 
from  the  city  of  Havana. 

Gomez  dwells  upon  the  debts  of  Spain,  and  the  abil- 
ity of  Cuba  to  meet  anticipations  soon  after  its  inde- 
pendence, and  he  is  charged  with  saying  : 

We  are  not  looking  for  English  sympathy.  We  know  that  England 
has  long  had  her  eye  on  Cuba,  and  I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  but 
for  the  grand  message  of  President  Cleveland  with  reference  to  Venezu- 
ela, the  custom  houses  of  our  Island  would  now  be  controlled  by  the 
Bank  of  England,  and  thousands  of  red-coated  soldiers  would  be  assist- 
ing Spain. 

This  may  be  Gomez,  but  it  has  not  quite  the  sound 
of  him.  As  to  General  Weyler,  we  find  this  the  atti- 
tude of  the  rebel  chieftain  : 

He  is  nearly  worn  out  and  hoarse  from  proclamations  and  speeches, 
and  his  military  judgment  is  far  inferior  to  that  of  General  Campos,  and 
we  have  marched  with  even  greater  ease  from  one  section  of  the  country 
to  the  other. 

Weyler's  coming  has  benefited  the  Cuban  cause  in  many  ways. 
His  record  was  against  him,  and  the  world  knew  that  Spain  intended  to 
be  cold-blooded  and  inhuman  when  she  sent  him.  The  people  of  Cuba 
knew  this  also,  and  thousands  of  men  who  were  not  inclined  to  join  one 
side  or  the  other  while  General  Campos  remained,  are  now  bearing  arms 
with  our  flag.  The  majority  of  Spaniards  are  not  fiends  and  butchers 
by  any  means,  and  when  a  human  devil  is  sent  to  lead  them  in  the  work 
of  murder  and  outrage,  they  naturally  refuse  to  follow  him.  Although 
massacres   have  occurred  and  although  homes  have  been   ruined  and 


GENERAI,  MAXIMO  GOMBZ. 


(IS5) 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  I  57 

womanhood  outraged  by  order  of  Weyler,  the  lovers  of  liberty  may 
thank  God  that  he  was  sent  to  command  Spain's  army  in  Cuba. 

We  are  charged  with  burning  homes,  destroying  railroads  and 
bridges,  and  laying  growing  fields  waste — and  the  charges  are  in  a  meas- 
ure true.  We  have  carried  out  such  plans,  believing  that  in  such  a 
cause,  and  against  such  an  enemy,  we  were  right.  But  no  man  can 
truthfully  say  that  we  have  outraged  God  and  love  and  humanity,  even 
for  liberty's  sake.  I  am  here  to  lead  an  army  against  Spain,  against  her 
army,  her  towns,  her  revenues,  and  I  shall  wage  it  so  long  as  the  Al- 
mighty Father  gives  me  strength. 

A  letter  from  Maceo  is  also  published,  and  he  says, 
dating  from  Pinar  del  Rio : 

When  I  last  marched  my  army  into  Pinar  del  Rio,  and  when  General 
Gomez  followed,  so  did  almost  the  entire  land  force  of  the  enemy,  and 
her  navy  was  all  ordered  to  the  Pinar  del  Rio  coast  line.  While  they 
were  watching  us  at  this  end  of  the  Island,  three  of  the  best  expeditions 
of  the  war  made  successful  landings  in  the  far  east. 

Let  Spain  send  her  reinforcements.  She  could  not  with  25,000 
reinforcements  put  down  this  rebellion. 

Although  we  are  daily  receiving  arms  and  ammunition,  we  are  con- 
stantly compelled  to  turn  away,  but  it  will  not  always  be  so,  and  I  will 
venture  to  say  that  within  two  months  we  shall  have  75,000  fully 
armed  men  in  the  field.  We  could  have  double  that  number  if  we  had 
the  arms  for  them.  We  are  praying  for  belligerency  and  for  arms  and 
for  artillery.  Give  us  these,  and  before  the  year  1897  comes  round  you 
will  witness  a  Cuban  president  installed  in  the  captain-general's  place 
at  Havana. 

God  bless  Cuba  and  God  bless  the  American  people. 

Antonio  Maceo, 

Lieutenant-  General. 

The  verification  of  the  letters  of  the  Cuban  chiefs  is 
an  uncertain  business,  but  it  is  known  that  the  insur- 
gents in  the  field  do  have  communication  with  their 
friends  in  the  Cuban  cities  and  this  country,  and  there 
are  constant  surprises  at  the  success  of  their  dangerous 
mail  service. 


158  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    PLAY    OF    PRESIDENT    PIERCE    FOR    CUBA. 

American  Interest  in  Cuba  and  English  Jealousy — The  Famous  Con- 
ference at  Ostend  in  1854,  between  BuchaT-  Mason  and  Soul6, 
the  Ministers  to  England,  France  and  S;  . — Mr.  Marcy's  Warlike 
Letters  and  Soul6's  Courtly  Ways — Cuba  we  must  have,  in  Peace  if 
Possible,  by  War  if  Necessary,  was  the  Policy  of  Pierce — The  Fam- 
ous Manifesto  by  Three  Ministers — A  Record  of  the  Past  Applic- 
able to  the  Present — Buchanan's  Nomination  for  the  Presidency. 

It  is  an  agreeable  task  to  give  the  credit  due  to 
the  American  soldiers  for  the  conquest  of  Cuba  by 
the  British  in  1762.  The  reinforcements  that  arrived 
at  Havana  from  New  York  were  essential  to  the  success 
of  the  immense  expedition  that  had  almost  exhausted  its 
strength  in  the  siege  of  the  Moro,  when  the  provincials 
sailed  through  storm  and  were  saved  from  shipwreck 
ta  the  rescue.  The  records  of  their  gallantry  and  sac- 
rifices are  but  fragmentary,  yet  the  magnitude  of  their 
deeds,  though  worthy  the  admiration  of  their  race  and 
age,  were  insufficient  to  win  the  gratitude  or  secure 
the  justice  of  the  king  in  whose  name  they  took  service 
and  gained  a  prize  rich  as  the  other  India. 

This  was  the  period  of  American  loyalty  to  England. 
Great  Britain  and  her  American  colonies  had  together 
triumphed  over  the  French,  who  abandoned  the  con- 
test for  North  America  when  they  burnt  their  fort  at 
the  junction  of  the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela,  and 
sailed  down  the  Ohio  to  the  land  where  the  floods  of 
the  Mississippi  overcome  the  tides  of  the  Gulf. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  159 

Together  they  were  conquerors  of  Cuba,  though  the 
Island  was  bravely  and  bitterly  defended.  We  say  the 
conquest  of  Cuba,  because  the  surrender  of  Havana 
substantially  included  all.  If  our  fathers  could  then 
have  rested  on  a  ratified  paper  beginning  "  We,  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran- 
quility, provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
ourselves  and  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America  " — if  there 
had  been  the  rule  of  fundamental  law  rather  than  the 
caprice  of  a  monarch  and  the  favor  and  folly  of  his  flat- 
terers, Cuba  would  have  been  ours  then  and  forever;  and 
it  should  be  considered  now  as  one  of  the  appeals  to  the 
equity  of  empires  whether  we  did  not  acquire,  through 
the  blood  the  grandfathers  of  the  American  nation 
shed  and  the  bones  they  laid  in  the  soil  of  Cuba,  cer- 
tain inalienable  preemption  rights  that  entitle  us,  under 
lineal  inheritance  and  irrepealable  immemorial  laws, 
written  and  unwritten,  to  possess  the  Island  and  pre- 
serve it  from  ruin.  A  preemption  right  is  that  to  pur- 
chase certain  lands  in  preference  to  others,  and  with 
the  history  of  Cuba  an  open  book  before  us,  we  may 
without  immodesty  assert  the  endurance  of  the  priv- 
ilege, and  Spain,  as  a  part  of  her  indemnity,  should 
claim  from  Great  Britain  the  prize  money  carried  to 
England  from  Havana,  where  even  the  bells  of  the 
churches  had  to  be  ransomed.  We  did  not  get  the  sil- 
ver and  gold,  and  may  insist  upon  our  right  of  pref- 
erence to  the  land. 

It  has  always  been  the  understanding  that  the  ulti- 
mate manifest  destiny  of  Cuba  belongs  to  her  people 

C— lo 


l6o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

as  our  people,  for  the  grasp  of  Spain  in  time  must  re- 
lax on  the  gem  of  the  Gulf  as  on  Mexico  and  Peru  and 
Florida  and  Hayti,  and  the  rest.  More  than  once  those 
we  helped  to  batter  the  Moro  and  bombard  Havana 
into  submission  appeared  on  the  scene  where  we  aided 
them  to  victory  with  sentiments  and  policy  to  our  dis- 
advantage, and  we  have  discovered  repeatedly  in  that 
region  the  evidence  of  English-speaking  opposition,  not 
to  say  animosity ;  and  even  now  the  British  empire 
would  regard  it  a  diplomatic  and  sea  power  master- 
stroke worthy  of  the  last  century,  to  promote  the  ma- 
terialization of  a  League  of  the  West  Indies  under  Eu- 
ropean protection,  if  the  direct  dominance  of  England 
should  seem  too  positive  a  form  of  proceeding.  Such  a 
confederation  signifies  a  barrier  before  us,  and  the 
imperial  abrogation  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  would  be 
the  shrinkage  of  our  pretensions,  including  the  abandon- 
ment of  a  policy  in  which  we  have  cherished  a  generous 
sentiment  and  indulged  an  elevated  pride  for  more 
than  seventy  years. 

The  Astor  Library  contains  an  old  pamphlet  with 
the  title  page  ;  "  Remarks  on  the  Cession  of  the  Flori- 
das  to  the  United  States  of  America,  and  on  the  Ne- 
cessity of  Acquiring  the  Island  of  Cuba  by  Great  Brit- 
ain." The  author  is  J.  Freeman  Rattenbury,  Esq.,  and 
the  date  of  publication  18^9.  This  passage  expresses 
the  truculent  spirit  of  the  pamphleteer  and  hints  at  hos- 
tilities in  more  important  quarters  : 

Should  the  American  government,  inflated  by  their  partial  successes 
in  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  determine  upon  taking  violent  pos- 
sessions of  the  Floridas,  Spain  must,  however  reluctantly,  resent  the  in- 
sult, and  call  upon  her  allies  for  assistance  against  the  common  enemy 
of   their  Alliance,  and  we  shall  not,  I  presume,  refuse  the  summons: 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  l6l 

we  have  already  a  subject  of  deep  interest  to  discuss  with  the  United 
States,  the  unexpiated  murder  of  Arbuthnot  and  Ambruster*  which,  not- 
withstanding the  feeble  efforts  of  the  administration  to  palliate,  in  op- 
position to  the  manly  and  indignant  feelings  expressed  in  the  motion  of 
the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  remains  a  foul  charge  against  the  American 
character,  and  an  insult  to  our  own. 

We  quote  again  Mr.  Rattenbury  :  "  The  people  of 
Cuba,"  he  said,  "anticipated  from  the  weakness  of 
Spain,  and  her  decreasing  influence  on  the  American 
continents,  the  possibility  of  her  cession,  as  was  the 
case  with  Florida  to  the  United  States,"  and  upon  this 
he  becomes  thus  expansive  : 

The  people  of  the  United  States,  dreading  the  proximity  of  our  arms, 
are  actively  nourishing  this  apprehension  of  evil  and  are  ready  to  aid 
the  first  manifestations  of  a  desire  to  throw  off  the  sovereignty  of  Spain. 
But  for  the  intolerable  egotism  of  the  people  of  the  Union,  and  for  the 
contempt  they  have  excited  by  their  vanity  and  ambition,  Cuba  would 
have  long  since  unfettered  her  dependence  upon  the  Spanish  Monarch, 
and  have  thrown  herself  into  the  federal  embrace  of  the  North  American 
Union. 


*In  1817 — two  years  after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  it  will  be  observed — An- 
drew Jackson  took  the  field  to  put  an  end  to  the  deviltry  of  the  Seminole  Indians. 
Spain  did  not  cede  Florida  to  the  United  States  till  1819,  and  we  did  not  take  pos- 
session of  it  till  1821.  The  Seminoles  made  incursions  from  Spanish  territory 
into  our  own.  Jackson  seized  the  Spanish  fort.  St.  Mark,  and  found  a  Scotchman 
there  named  Arbuthnot,  and  at  Suwanee  he  seized  Ambruster,  both  British  sub- 
jects. They  wrere  convicted  by  court  martial  of  inciting  savages  to  hostility,  and 
Jackson  hanged  them,  though  the  court  (military)  had  only  sentenced  Ambristerto 
be  whipped.  Then  Jackson  marched  into  Pensacola  in  spite  of  Spanish  remon- 
strances. These  proceedings  caused  much  angry  excitement  in  England  and  there 
were  threats  of  war.  There  was  a  great  row  in  Congress  and  Jackson  threatened 
to  cut  off  the  ears  of  certain  insolent  senators.  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  defended  him.  It  was  on  account  of  the  use  of  the  incident  of  the 
Arbuthnot  and  Ambruster  executions  for  abuse  of  Jackson  when  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  that  there  was  intense  feeling.  Jackson  was  the  first  governor 
of  the  territory  of  Florida  and  he  imprisoned  the  departing  Spanish  governor  for 
trying  to  carry  away  papers,  and  the  attempt  to  censure  Jackson  in  Congress  for 
this  arbitrary  act  failed.     General  Jackson  was  a  positive  character. 


1 62  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

During  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  while  Spain  bowed  beneath 
the  yoke  of  France,  from  which  there  was  then  no  prospect  of  relief,  the 
people  of  Cuba,  feeling  themselves  incompetent  in  force  to  maintain  their 
independence,  sent  a  deputation  to  Washington,  proposing  the  annexa- 
tion of  the  Island  to  the  federal  system  of  North  America.  The  Presi- 
dent, however,  devoted  to  French  influence,  vainly  calculating  upon  the 
triumphs  of  that  nation  on  the  ruins  of  the  British  power,  until  the  im- 
portant victory  of  Trafalgar  dissipated  the  delusion,  declined  the  prof- 
fered acquisition. 

While  I  hazard  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  Cuba  will  be  adverse  to 
the  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain,  coupled  with  the  restrictions  of  our 
colonial  policy,  I  am  far  from  believing  that  they  would  feel  disinclined 
to  the  transfer  of  their  allegiance,  provided  our  possession  of  the  Island 
should  leave  them,  in  their  present  situation,  free  to  the  commerce  of 
the  world.  Advancing  in  the  scale  of  consequence  by  becoming  tribu- 
tary to  the  first  commercial  and  maritime  nation  of  Europe,  secure  in 
property  and  liberty,  under  our  protection  the  Island  of  Cuba  would  in- 
crease in  population  and  in  wealth  with  a  rapidity  unequaled,  and  would 
amply  repay  the  British  government  for  its  fostering  care  and  protec- 
tion, while  its  rich  mountains  and  fertile  plains  would  present  to  the  re- 
dundancy of  our  population  a  delightful  refuge  from  the  misery  of  pov- 
erty and  despair. 

It  is  our  bounden  duty,  it  is  our  imperative  policy,  to  anticipate  the 
rivalship  of  the  United  States,  and  by  erecting  a  power  capable  of  con- 
tending with  them  in  their  own  hemisphere,  prevent  the  destruction  of 
our  commerce,  which  will  otherwise  inevitably  follow  our  neglect  of 
those  precautionary  measures,  for,  in  spite  of  the  infatuated  indifference 
which  marks  our  policy  toward  the  republic,  in  spite  of  the  apathy  with 
which  we  view  their  rapid  progress  in  wealth  and  power,  hereafter  the 
contest  for  the  empire  of  the  sea  will  be  between  England  and  the  North 
American  Union,  a  warfare  suited  to  the  prejudices  of  their  people,  and 
the  character  of  their  country. 

Not  in  this  spirit,  perhaps,  but  to  this  effect — in  diplo- 
matic phraseology — possibly  Great  Britain  may  reappear 
in  the  affairs  of  Cuba.  This  English  writer  gives  un- 
common force  to  the  Cuban  annexation  movement  in 
the  time  of  Jefferson,  who,  though  censured  for  French 
affiliations,  did  well  in  the  transaction  of  the  Louisiana 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 63 

Purchase,  and  as  Senator  Hoar  says,  he  comes  down  to 
us  with  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  one  hand 
and  the  Louisiana  Purchase  in  the  other ;  and  we 
might  as  well  give  him  our  distinguished  considera- 
tion without  disputation.  It  was  not  certain  he  had 
the  chance  to  gain  Cuba  without  costly  complica- 
tions. It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  Jackson's 
victory  at  New  Orleans  confirmed  our  title  to  the 
lands  sold  by  Napoleon ;  and  the  English  conten- 
tion, if  they  had  won  at  New  Orleans,  would  have  been 
that  Napoleon  had  no  right  to  sell  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.  They  gave  that  up,  however,  when  they 
returned  shattered  from  New  Orleans,  where  they  suf- 
fered an  astounding  disaster,  to  recuperate  on  the  way 
home  at  Havana,  which  their  country  once  gained  in 
"the  game  of  the  iron  dice,"  and  their  king  passed  it 
along  like  a  snuff  box.  If  they  had  held  that  prize 
instead  of  fooling  it  away  in  alleged  diplomacy,  very 
many  things  would  have  been  changed.  If  it  had  been 
ours  in  1815,  the  British  New  Orleans  fleet  and  army 
would  not  have  landed  on  the  continent. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  trace  the  shifting  currents  of 
influence  by  which  Louisiana  and  Florida  became  ours 
without  excessive  offense  to  Spain.  We  never  took  ad- 
vantage of  her  to  the  provocation  of  war,  while  Cuba, 
whose  surpassing  fertility  made  her  the  prize  beyond 
comparison  to  be  desired,  incessantly  attracted  to  us  in 
peace  and  war,  was  always  repelled  through  partizan 
timidity  if  not  by  rude  blundering.  That  which  on 
the  Island  was  alluring  to  one  class  of  our  statesmen 
was  repulsive  to  another.  We  refer  to  the  existence  in 
our  Southern  States,  and  in  Cuba,  until  abolished  by 
the  sword,  of  the  institution  of  slavery. 


1 64  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA, 

Vice-President  Wilson,  in  his  "  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Slave  Power  in  America,"  introducing  the  episode  of 
the  Ostend  Manifesto,  a  momentous  paper,  says  : 

When  the  Spanish  colonies  in  America  became  independent  they  abol- 
ished slavery.  Apprehensive  that  the  republics  of  Mexico  and  Colombia 
would  be  anxious  to  wrest  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  from  Spain,  secure  their 
independence,  and  introduce  into  those  islands  the  idea,  if  they  did  not 
establish  the  fact,  of  freedom,  the  slave-masters  (of  the  United  States) 
at  once  sought  to  guard  against  what  they  deemed   so  calamitous  an 

event But  after  the  annexation  of  Texas  there  was  a  change  of 

feeling  and  purpose,  and  Cuba,  from  being  an  object  of  dread,  became 
an  object  of  vehement  desire.  The  propagandists,  strengthened  and 
emboldened  by  that  signal  triumph,  now  turned  their  eyes  toward  this 
beautiful  "isle  of  the  sea,"  as  the  theatre  of  new  exploits;  and  they 
determined  to  secure  the  "gem  of  the  Antilles  "  for  the  coronet  of  their 
great  and  growing  power.  During  Mr.  Polk's  administration  an  attempt 
was  made  to^purchase  it,  and  the  sum  of  $100,000,000  was  offered  there- 
for. But  the  offer  was  promptly  declined.  What,  however,  could  not 
be  bought,  it  was  determined  to  steal,  and  filibustering  movements  and 
expeditions  became  the  order  of  the  day.  For  no  sooner  was  President 
Taylor  inaugurated  than  he  found  movements  on  foot  in  that  direction; 
and,  in  August,  1849,  ^^  issued  a  proclamation,  affirming  his  belief  that  an 
"  armed  expedition  "  was  being  fitted  out  "  against  Cuba,  or  some  of  the 
provinces  of  Mexico,"  and  calling  upon  all  good  citizens  *'to  discoun- 
tenance and  prevent  any  such  enterprise." 

Reference  is  had  in  Wilson's  History  to  the  ill-fated 
Lopez  expedition,  which  was,  of  course,  in  the  interest 
of  the  formation  of  more  slave  states  in  the  United 
States,  and  it  was  that  influence  that  made  the  most  of 
the  tragedy.  August,  1854,  President  Pierce  instructed 
Secretary  of  State  Marcy  to  cause  a  conference  of  the 
ministers  of  the  United  States  to  England,  France  and 
Spain — Buchanan,  Mason  and  Soule — to  be  held  with  a 
view  to  the  acquisition  of  Cuba,  in  this  emulating  the 
success  of  Polk  with  Texas,  regaining  imperial  domains. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  1 65 

Mr.  Marcy,  secretary  of  state,  August  i6,  1854,  ad- 
dressed Mr.  Soule,  minister  to  Spain,  a  letter  stating 
he  was  directed  by  the  president  "  to  suggest  a  partic- 
ular step  from  which  he  anticipates  much  advantage  to 
the  negotiations  with  which  you  are  charged  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Cuba."  Mr.  Soule  of  Louisiana  was  minister  to 
Spain  for  that  express  purpose  and  was  a  man  of  re- 
markable talents,  courtly  accomplishments,  striking 
presence  and  of  rare  persuasive  capacity.  His  eye  and 
voice  were  fascinating,  and  he  was  well  chosen  for  the 
work  cut  out  as  his  task.  Mr.  Marcy  proceeded  to 
make  the  president's  suggestion  in  these  terms  :  "  It 
seems  desirable  there  should  be  a  full  and  free  inter- 
change of  views  between  yourself,  Mr.  Buchanan  and 
Mr.  Mason,  in  order  to  secure  a  concurrence  in  reference 
to  the  general  object." 

The  idea  was  that  the  ministers  should  consult 
together,  compare  opinions  as  to  what  might  be 
advisable,  and  adopt  measures  for  perfect  concert 
of  action  in  the  negotiations  with  Madrid.  The  presi- 
dent had  full  confidence  in  Mr.  Soule's  intelligence, 
and  yet  he  thought,  said  Mr.  Marcy  to  him,  "that  it 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  agreeable  to  you  and  to  your 
colleagues  in  Great  Britain  and  France,  to  have  the 
consultation  suggested,  and  thus  bring  your  common 
wisdom  and  knowledge  to  bear  simultaneously  upon 
the  negotiations  at  Madrid,  London  and  Paris."  When- 
ever the  interview  took  place,  Mr.  Soule  was  desired  to 
communicate  to  the  government  "  the  results  of  opinion 
or  means  of  action  to  which  you  may  in  common  arrive 
through  a  trustworthy  confidential  messenger,  who  may 
be  able  to  supply  the  details  not  contained  in  a  formal 
dispatch. "     The  precaution  to  provide  that  some  things 


1 66  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

should  not  be  put  on  paper  will  be  observed  as  in  char- 
acter with  the  entire  proceedings.  In  extensive  des- 
patches Mr.  Marcy  had  advised  Mr.  Soule  :  "  It  was  be- 
lieved by  the  president  that  there  was  no  hope,  by  pur- 
suing the  ordinary  course  of  negotiation,  of  arriving  at 
such  an  adjustment  of  our  affairs  with  Spain  as  could 
be  satisfactory  to  this  country.  If  she  could  be  induced 
tD  give  a  fair  consideration  to  our  complaints  for  injuries 
perpetrated,  and  offer  a  full  reparation  for  them,  yet 
the  more  difficult  matter — an  arrangement  in  respect  to 
the  future — would  still  remain  to  be  made,"  and  "  prepar- 
atory to  resorting  to  an  extreme  measure,  he  thought  it 
would  be  expedient  to  make  a  solemn  and  impressive 
appeal  to  Spain,  by  an  extraordinary  commission  ;"  and 
"  if,  in  her  infatuation,  Spain  should  determine  not  to 
regard  it,  but  persist  in  maintaining  the  present  order 
of  things,  not  only  the  people  of  this  country,  but  the 
governments  of  others,  would  see,  in  such  a  course  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  an  anxious  desire  and  a 
settled  determination  to  exhaust  all  peaceful  means  for 
redress  and  future  security." 

There  is  in  this  unmistakably  the  contemplation  of 
war  with  Spain,  unless  she  gave  up  Cuba  peaceably. 
Mr.  Marcy  proceeded  to  assure  Mr.  Soule  "  that  in  con- 
sidering this  measure,  it  did  not  occur  to  the  president, 
or  any  of  his  advisers,  that  the  institution  of  an  extra- 
ordinary commission  in  a  case  so  unusual,  and  of 
such  great  importance,  could  warrant  an  inference  that 
our  minister  at  Madrid  had  not  faithfully  and  ably 
done  his  duty,  and  given  satisfaction  to  the  govern- 
ment. Such  an  inference  is  repelled  by  the  fact  that  he 
was  to  have  been  included  in  the  commission,  and  placed 
at  its  head,  if  it  could  be  said  to  have  any  gradation." 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  167 

But,  there  had  interposed  events  in  Spain  such  that 
she  was  in  a  transition  state,  and  so  the  conclusion  was 
reached  at  Washington,  "  before  its  administration  shall 
have  resumed  a  stable  and  tranquil  condition,  it  would 
not  be  opportune  as  to  time,  or  of  any  practical  util- 
ity, to  press  particular  demands  on  the  consideration  of 
the  Spanish  government." 

The  Spanish  revolution  had  changed  the  aspect  of 
things,  and  it  was  more  important  to  look  to  the  future 
than  the  past.  The  president's  views  were  unchanged, 
of  course,  but  he  desired  "additional  hopes  of  success 
in  the  great  objects  contemplated,"  and  thought  the  new 
government  should  not  be  pressed  ;  "  but  even  at  this 
crisis "  Mr.  Marcy  was  bound  to  say,  "  few  subjects 
of  greater  moment  can  be  pressed  upon  it  than  the 
management  of  Cuba.  To  this  subject,  as  bearing  upon 
the  interests  of  the  United  States,  and  in  its  present  con- 
dition threatening  the  peace  of  two  countries,  you  will 
direct  your  particular  attention."  The  process  was 
changed,  but  the  policy  was  unrelenting.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  peace  of  the  two  countries  was  threat- 
ened ;  several  back  logs  were  kept  in  the  fireplace  !  Mr. 
Marcy  gives  space  to  thoughts  about  the  condition  of 
Spain  in  a  semi-confidential  way,  and  adds,  "  These 
remarks  are  intended  to  apply,  not  only  to  the  lesser 
questions  between  two  governments,  but  equally  to  the 
greater  and  higher  ones,  more  especially  what  concerns 
the  relation  of  Cuba  to  the  United  States."  The  president 
had  thought  it  might  be  well  he  should  be  clothed  by 
Congress  "  with  additional  power  with  reference  to  our 
relation  with  Spain  ; "  this  "  in  anticipation  of  sundry 
eventualities  which  may  present  themselves  in  the 
recess  of  Congress."     It  was,  however,  concluded  the 


1 68  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

better  way  to  defer  an  "extraordinary  commission," 
and  "extraordinary  powers  "  for  the  president,  and  shift 
the  scene  of  activity  from  Washington. 

Mr.  Soule,  under  date  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Oct.  15, 
1854,  wrote  to  Mr.  Marcy  : 

I  had  not  been  more  than  two  days  at  the  Pyrenees,  when  I  received 
the  despatches  numbered  18  and  19,  which  Colonel  Sickles  had  in  charge 
from  you  to  deliver  in  my  hands.  They  informed  me  of  the  course 
which  it  was  the  wish  of  the  president  I  should  pursue  in  the  ascertain- 
ment of  the  best  mode  through  which  could  be  accomplished  the  main 
object  of  my  mission,  viz  :  the  acquisition  of  the  island  of  Cuba  from 
Spain. 

The  Ostend  conference  was  the  substitute  for  the 
extraordinary  commission.  The  one  object  was  Cuba. 
The  conference  met  at  Ostend  the  9th  of  October, 
1854,  continued  in  conference  three  consecutive  days, 
and  adjourned  to  Aix-la-Chapelie,  where  notes  were  pre- 
pared. It  was  "infinite  satisfaction"  that  "cordial  har- 
mony "  marked  every  step,  and  the  sentiments  of  the 
three  ambassadors  were  unanimous  on  all  points  !  Mr. 
Soule  said,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Marcy,  transmitting  the 
joint  report :  "  The  question  of  the  acquisition  of  Cuba 
by  us  is  gaining  ground  as  it  grows  to  be  more  seri- 
ously agitated  and  considered.  Now  is  the  moment 
for  us  to  be  done  with  it ;  "  and  he  added,  "if  it  is  to 
bring  upon  us  the  calamity  of  a  war — let  it  be  now, 
while  the  great  powers  of  this  continent  are  engaged  in 
that  stupendous  struggle  which  cannot  but  engage  all 
their  strength  and  tax  all  their -energies  as  long  as  it 
lasts,  and  may,  before  it  ends,  convulse  them  all. 
Neither  England  nor  France  would  be  likely  to  inter- 
fere with  us.  England  could  not  bear  to  be  suddenly 
shut  out  of  our  market,  and  see  her  manufactures  par- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  I7I 

alyzed,  even  by  a  temporary  suspension  of  her  inter- 
course with  us.  And  France,  with  the  heavy  task  now 
on  her  hands,  and  when  she  so  eagerly  aspires  to  take  her 
seat  as  the  acknowledged  chief  of  the  European  family, 
would  have  no  inducement  to  assume  the  burden  of 
another  war."     This  was  improving  the  Crimean  war. 

The  memorandum  agreed  upon  by  the  three  minis- 
ters in  extraordinary  conference  assembled,  was  the  em- 
bodiment in  form  of  the  suggestions  set  forth  in  the 
letters  of  Marcy  and  Soule.  This  portentous  document 
presents  very  forcibly  the  value  of  Cuba  as  an  acquisi- 
tion by  the  United  States,  irrespective  of  the  primary 
purpose  to  strengthen  slavery  in  our  country. 

The  first  business  when  the  need  of  swift  action  while 
Europe  was  engaged  in  the  Crimean  war — and  Spain,  in  a 
revolutionary  and  transition  state,  became  the  inspiration 
of  the  policy  of  the  administration,  was  that  our  peace- 
able intentions  should  be  carefully  set  forth — especially 
the  generosity  of  offering  the  Spanish  a  greater  sum  of 
money  than  Cuba  was  worth  to  them  ;  and  then,  if  they 
would  not  listen  to  reason,  we  were  to  act  upon  the  pre- 
sumption that  there  could  be  no  repose  for  the  Union  un- 
til Cuba  was  included  in  our  boundaries.  If  Spain  acted 
in  a  stubborn  manner  and  upon  a  "  false  sense  of  honor," 
we  must  act  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  self-preser- 
vation— and  prevent  the  flames  from  a  burning  house 
destroying  our  home.  We  would  be  "  unworthy  our 
gallant  forefathers,"  and  commit  "treason  against  our 
posterity,"  if  we  permitted  "Cuba  to  be  Africanized  and 
become  a  second  San  Domingo."  The  study  of  these 
papers,  it  must  be  admitted,  affords  some  explanation  of 
the  excessive  sensibility  that  Spain  shows  to  the  shadow 
cast  by  America  upon  Cuba.     The  manifesto  is  so  in- 


172  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

teresting  in  its  application  to  present  conditions  that  its 
complete  production  is  required  to  make  intelligible 
the  whole  story  of  Cuba,  and  we  give  it  here  : 

THE    OSTEND    MANIFESTO. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  Oct.  i8,  1854. 

Sir:  The  undersigned,  in  compliance  with  the  wish  expressed  by  the 
president  in  the  several  confidential  despatches  you  have  addressed  to 
us  respectively,  to  that  effect,  we  have  met  in  conference,  first  at  Ostend, 
in  Belgium,  on  the  9th,  loth,  and  nth  instant,  and  then  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
in  Prussia,  on  the  days  next  following,  up  to  the  date  hereof. 

There  has  been  a  full  and  unreserved  interchange  of  views  and  senti- 
ments between  us,  which  we  are  most  happy  to  inform  you  has  resulted 
in  a  cordial  coincidence  of  opinion  on  the  grave  and  important  subjects 
submitted  to  our  consideration. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  and  are  thoroughly  convinced  that 
an  immediate  and  earnest  effort  ought  to  be  made  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  to  purchase  Cuba  from  Spain  at  any  price  for  which  it 
can  be  obtained,  not  exceeding  the  sum  of  $ 

The  proposal  should,  in  our  opinion,  be  made  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
be  presented  through  the  necessary  diplomatic  forms  to  the  Supreme 
Constituent  Cortes  about  to  assemble.  On  this  momentous  question,  in 
which  the  people,  both  of  Spain  and  the  United  States,  are  so  deeply  in- 
terested, all  our  proceedings  ought  to  be  open,  frank  and  public.  They 
should  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  challenge  the  approbation  of  the  world. 

We  firmly  believe  that,  in  the  progress  of  human  events,  the  time  has 
arrived  when  the  vital  interests  of  Spain  are  as  seriously  involved  in  the 
sale,  as  those  of  the  United  States  in  the  purchase,  of  the  Island,  and 
that  the  transaction  will  prove  equally  honorable  to  both  nations. 

Under  these  circumstances  we  cannot  anticipate  a  failure,  unless  pos- 
sibly through  the  malign  influence  of  foreign  powers  who  possess  no  right 
whatever  to  interfere  in  the  matter. 

We  proceed  to  state  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  brought  us  to  this 
conclusion,  and  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  we  shall  specify  them  under 
two  distinct  heads: 

1.  The  United  States  ought,  if  practicable,  to  purchase  Cuba  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible. 

2.  The  probability  is  great  that  the  government  and  Cortes  of  Spain 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 73 

will  prove  willing  to  sell  it,  because  this  would  essentially  promote  the 
highest  and  best  interests  of  the  Spanish  people. 

Then,  i.  It  must  be  clear  to  every  reflecting  mind  that,  from  the 
peculiarity  of  its  fyeographical  position,  and  the  considerations  attendant 
on  it,  Cuba  is  as  necessary  to  the  North  American  republic  as  any  of  its 
present  members  and  that  it  belongs  naturally  to  that  great  family  of 
states  of  which  the  Union  is  the  providential  nursery. 

From  its  locality  it  commands  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
immense  and  annually  increasing  trade  which  must  seek  this  avenue  to 
the  ocean. 

On  the  numerous  navigable  streams,  measuring  an  aggregate  course  of 
some  thirty  thousand  miles,  which  disembogue  themselves  through  this 
magnificent  river  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  increase  of  the  population 
within  the  last  ten  years  amounts  to  more  than  that  of  the  entire  Union 
at  the  time  Louisiana  was  annexed  to  it. 

The  natural  and  main  outlet  to  the  products  of  this  entire  population, 
the  highway  of  their  direct  intercourse  with  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific 
states,  can  never  be  secure,  but  must  ever  be  endangered  whilst  Cuba  is 
a  dependency  of  a  distant  power  in  whose  possession  it  has  proved  to  be 
a  source  of  constant  annoyance  and  embarrassment  to  their  interests. 

Indeed,  the  Union  can  never  enjoy  repose,  not  possess  reliable  secur- 
ity, as  long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within  its  boundaries. 

Its  immediate  acquisition  by  our  government  is  of  paramount  impor- 
tance, and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  it  is  a  consummation  devoutly  wished 
for  by  its  inhabitants. 

The  intercourse  which  its  proximity  to  our  coast  begets  and  encour- 
ages between  them  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  has,  in  the 
progress  of  time,  so  united  their  interests  and  blended  their  fortunes  that 
they  now  look  upon  each  other  as  if  they  were  one  people  and  had  but 
one  destiny. 

Considerations  exist  which  render  delay  in  the  acquisition  of  this 
Island  exceedingly  dangerous  to  the  United  States. 

The  system  of  immigration  and  labor  lately  organized  within  its  lim 
its,  and  the  tyranny  and  oppression  which  characterize  its  immediate 
rulers,  threaten  an  insurrection  at  every  moment  which  may  result  in 
direful  consequences  to  the  American  people. 

Cuba  has  thus  become  to  us  an  unceasing  danger,  and  a  permanent 
cause  of  anxiety  and  alarm. 

But  we  need  not  enlarge  on  these  topics.  It  can  scarcely  be  appre- 
hended that  foreign  powers,  in  violation  of  international  law,  would  inter- 


174  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

pose  their  influence  with  Spain  to  prevent  our  acquisition  of  the  Island. 
Its  inhabitants  are  now  suffering  under  the  worst  of  all  possible  govern- 
Y  ments,  that  of  absolute  despotism,  delegated  by  a  distant  power  to  irre- 
sponsible agents,  who  are  changed  at  short  intervals,  and  who  are 
tempted  to  improve  the  brief  opportunity  thus  afforded  to  accumulate 
fortunes  by  the  basest  means 

As  long  as  this  system  shall  endure,  humanity  may  in  vain  demand 
the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade  in  the  Island.  This  is  rendered 
impossible  whilst  that  infamous  traffic  remains  an  irresistible  temptation 
and  a  source  of  immense  profit  to  needy  and  avaricious  officials,  who,  to 
attain  their  ends,  scruple  not  to  trample  the  most  sacred  principles  under 
foot. 

The  Spanish  government  at  home  may  be  well  disposed,  but  experience 
has  proved  that  it  cannot  control  these  remote  depositaries  of  its  power. 

Besides,  the  commercial  nations  of  the  world  cannot  fail  to  perceive 
and  appreciate  the  great  avantages  which  would  result  to  their  people 
from  a  dissolution  of  the  forced  and  unnatural  connection  between  Spain 
and  Cuba,  and  the  annexation  of  the  latter  to  the  United  States.  The 
trade  of  England  and  France  with  Cuba  would,  in  that  event,  assume  at 
once  an  important  and  profitable  character,  and  rapidly  extend  with  the 
increasing  population  and  prosperity  of  the  Island. 

2.  But  if  the  United  States  and  every  commercial  nation  would  be 
benefited  by  this  transfer,  the  interests  of  Spain  would  also  be  greatly 
and  essentially  promoted. 

She  cannot  but  see  what  such  a  sum  of  money  as  we  are  willing  to  pay 
for  the  Island  would  affect  it  in  the  development  of  her  vast  natural 
resources. 

Two-thirds  of  this  sum,  if  employed  in  the  construction  of  a  system  of 
railroads,  would  ultimately  prove  a  source  of  greater  wealth  to  the  Span- 
ish people  than  that  opened  to  their  vision  by  Cortez.  Their  prosperity 
would  date  from  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  cession. 

France  has  already  constructed  continuous  lines  of  railways  from 
Havre,  Marseilles,  Valenciennes,  and  Strasburg,  via  Paris,  to  the  Span- 
ish frontier,  and  anxiously  awaits  the  day  when  Spain  shall  find  herself  in 
a  condition  to  extend  these  roads  through  her  northern  provinces  to 
Madrid,  Seville,  Cadiz,  Malaga,  and  the  frontiers  of  Portugal. 

This  object  once  accomplished,  Spain  would  become  a  centre  of 
attraction  for  the  traveling  world,  and  secure  a  permanent  and  profitable 
market  for  her  various  productions.  Her  fields,  under  the  stimulus 
given  to  industry  by  remunerating  prices,  would  teem  with  cereal  grain. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  1/5 

.  and  her  vineyards  would  bring  forth  a  vastly  increased  quantity  of 
choice  wines.  Spain  would  speedily  become  what  a  bountiful  Provi- 
dence intended  she  should  be,  one  of  the  first  nations  of  continental 
Europe — rich,  powerful,  and  contented. 

Whilst  two-thirds  of  the  price  of  the  Island  would  be  ample  for  the 
completion  of  her  most  important  public  improvements,  she  might  with 
the  remaining  forty  millions  satisfy  the  demands  now  pressing  so  heavily 
upon  her  credit,  and  create  a  sinking  fund  which  would  gradually  relieve 
her  from  the  overwhelming  debt  now  paralyzing  her  energies. 

Such  is  her  present  wretched  financial  condition,  that  her  best  bonds 
are  sold  upon  her  own  bourse  at  about  one-third  of  their  par  value  ; 
whilst  another  class,  on  which  she  pays  no  interest,  have  but  a  nominal 
value,  and  are  quoted  at  about  one-sixth  of  the  amount  for  which  they 
were  issued.  Besides,  these  latter  are  held  principally  by  British  cred- 
itors, who  may,  from  day  to  day,  obtain  the  effective  interposition  of 
their  own  government  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  payment.  Intimations 
to  that  effect  have  been  already  thrown  out  from  high  quarters,  and 
unless  some  new  sources  of  revenue  shall  enable  Spain  to  provide  for 
such  exigencies,  it  is  not  improbable  that  they  may  be  realized. 

Should  Spain  reject  the  present,  golden  opportunity  for  developing  her 
resources  and  removing  her  financial  embarrassments,  it  may  never 
again  return. 

Cuba,  in  her  palmiest  days,  never  yielded  her  exchequer,  after  deduct- 
ing the  expense  of  its  government,  a  clear  annual  income  of  more  than 
a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars.  These  expenses  have  increased  to  such 
a  degree  as  to  leave  a  deficit,  chargeable  on  the  treasury  of  Spain,  to  the 
amount  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
»y  In  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  therefore,  the  Island  is  an  encumbrance 
instead  of  a  source  of  profit  to  the  mother-country. 

Under  no  probable  circumstances  can  Cuba  ever  yield  to  Spain  one  per 
cent,  on  the  large  amount  which  the  United  States  are  willing  to  pay  for 
its  acquisition.  But  Spain  is  in  imminent  danger  of  losing  Cuba  with- 
out remuneration. 
.  Extreme  oppression,  it  is  now  universally  admitted,  justifies  any  peo- 
"^  pie  in  endeavoring  to  relieve  themselves  from  the  yoke  of  their  oppres- 
sors. The  sufferings  which  the  corrupt,  arbitrary,  and  unrelenting  local 
administration  necessarily  entails  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba  cannot 
fail  to  stimulate  and  keep  alive  that  spirit  of  resistance  and  revolution 
against  Spain  which  has  of  late  years  been  so  often  manifested.  In 
this  condition  of  affairs  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  the  sympathies  of  the 


\y6 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


people  of  the  United  States  will  not  be  warmly  enlisted  in  favor  of  their 
oppressed  neighbors. 

We  know  that  the  president  is  justly  inflexible  in  his  determination  to 
execute  the  neutrality  laws;  but  should  the  Cubans  themselves  rise  in 
revolt  against  the  oppression  which  they  suffer,  no  human  power  could 
prevent  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  liberal-minded  men  of  other 
countries  from  rushing  to  their  assistance.  Besides,  the  present  is  an 
age  of  adventure  in  which  restless  and  daring  spirits  abound  in  every 
portion  of  the  world. 

It  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  Cuba  may  be  wrested  from  Spain 
by  a  successful  revolution;  and  in  that  event  she  will  lose  both  the 
Island  and  the  price  which  we  are  now  willing  to  pay  for  it — a  price 
far  beyond  what  was  ever  paid  by  one  people  to  another  for  any 
province. 

It  may  also  be  remarked  that  the  settlement  of  this  vexed  question, 
by  the  cession  of  Cuba  to  the  United  States,  would  forever  prevent  the 
dangerous  complications  between  nations  to  which  it  may  otherwise  give 
birth. 

It  is  certain  that,  should  the  Cubans  themselves  organize  an  insurrec- 
tion against  the  Spanish  government,  and  should  other  independent 
nations  come  to  the  aid  of  Spain  in  the  contest,  no  human  power  could, 
in  our  opinion,  prevent  the  people  and  government  of  the  United  States 
from  taking  part  in  such  a  civil  war  in  support  of  their  neighbors  and 
friends. 

But  if  Spain,  dead  to  the  voice  of  her  own  interest,  and  actuated  by 
stubborn  pride  and  a  false  sense  of  honor,  should  refuse  to  sell  Cuba 
to  the  United  States,  then  the  question  will  arise,  What  ought  to  be  the 
course  of  the  American  government  under  such  circumstances  ? 

Self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature  with  states  as  well  as  with 
individuals.  All  nations  have,  at  different  periods,  acted  upon  this 
maxim.  Although  it  has  been  made  the  pretext  for  committing  flagrant 
injustice,  as  in  the  partition  of  Poland  and  other  similar  cases  which 
history  records,  yet  the  principle  itself,  though  often  abused,  has  always 
been  recognized. 

The  United  States  has  never  acquired  a  foot  of  territory  except  by 
fair  purchase,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  Texas,  upon  the  free  and  voluntary 
application  of  the  people  of  that  independent  state,  who  desired  to  blend 
their  destinies  with  our  own. 

Even  our  acquisitions  from  Mexico  are  no  exception  to  this  rule 
because,  although  we  might  have  claimed  them  by  the  right  of  conquest 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  \yj 

in  a  just  war,  yet  we  purchased  them  for  what  was  then  considered  by 
both  parties  a  full  and  ample  equivalent. 

Our  past  history  forbids  that  we  should  acquire  the  island  of  Cuba 
without  the  consent  of  Spain,  unless  justified  by  the  great  law  of  self- 
preservation.  We  must,  in  any  event,  preserve  our  own  conscious  rec- 
titude and  our  own  self-respect. 

Whilst  pursuing  this  course  we  can  afford  to  disregard  the  censures  of 
the  world,  to  which  we  have  been  so  often  and  so  unjustly  exposed. 

After  we  have  offered  Spain  a  price  for  Cuba  far  beyond  its  present 
value,  and  this  shall  have  been  refused,  it  will  then  be  time  to  consider 
the  questons,  does  Cuba,  in  the  possession  of  Spain  seriously  endanger 
our  internal  peace  and  the  existence  of  our  cherished  Union  ? 

Should  this  question  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  then,  by  every 
law,  human  and  divine,  we  shall  be  justified  in  wresting  it  from  Spain, 
if  we  possess  the  power;  and  this  upon  the  very  same  principle  that 
would  justify  an  individual  in  tearing  down  the  burning  house  of  his 
neighbor  if  there  were  no  other  means  of  preventing  the  flames  from  de- 
stroying his  own  home. 

Under  such  circumstances  we  ought  neither  to  count  the  cost  nor  re- 
gard the  odds  which  Spain  might  enlist  against  us.  We  forbear  to  enter 
into  the  question,  whether  the  present  condition  of  the  Island  would  jus- 
tify such  a  measure.  We  should,  however,  be  recreant  to  our  duty,  be 
unworthy  of  our  gallant  forefathers,  and  commit  base  treason  against 
our  posterity,  should  we  permit  Cuba  to  be  Africanized  and  become  a  ■ 
second  San  Domingo,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors  to  the  white  race, 
and  suffer  the  flames  to  extend  to  our  own  neighboring  shores,  seriously 
to  endanger,  or  actually  to  consume,  the  fair  fabric  of  our  Union. 

We  fear  that  the  course  and  current  of  events  are  rapidly  tending 
toward  such  a  catastrophe.  We,  however,  hope  for  the  best,  though  we 
ought  certainly  to  be  prepared  for  the  worst. 

We  also  forbear  to  investigate  the  present  condition  of  the  questions 

at  issue  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.     A  long  series  of  injuries  "^ 

to  our  people  have  been  committed  in  Cuba  by  Spanish  officials,  and  are 

unredressed.     But  recently  a   most    flagrant  outrage  on  the  rights  of 

American  citizens,  and  on  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  was  perpetrated 

in  the  harbor  of  Havana  under  circumstances  which,  without  immediate 

redress,  would  have  justified  a  resort  to  measures  of  war  in  vindication 

of  national  honor.     That  outrage  is  not  only  unatoned,  but  the   Spanish 

government  has  deliberately  sanctioned  the  acts  of  its  subordinates,  and 

assumed  the  responsibility  attaching  to  them. 
C— II 


I 

178  TJ/E  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Nothing  could  more  impressively  teach  us  the  danger  to  which  those 
peaceful  relations  it  has  ever  been  the  policy  of  the  United  States  to 
cherish  v/ith  foreign  nations,  are  constantly  exposed,  than  the  circum- 
stances of  that  case.  Situated  as  Spain  and  the  United  States  are,  the 
latter  have  forborne  to  resort  to  extreme  measures. 

But  this  course  cannot,  with  due  regard  to  their  own  dignity  as  an  in- 
dependent nation,  continue;  and  our  recommendations,  now  submitted, 
are  dictated  by  the  firm  belief  that  the  cession  of  Cuba  to  the  United 
States,  with  stipulations  as  beneficial  to  Spain  as  those  suggested,  is  the 
only  effective  mode  of  settling  all  past  differences,  and  of  securing  the 
two  countries  against  future  collisions. 

We  have  already  witnessed  the  happy  results  for  both  countries  which 
followed  a  similar  arrangement  in  regard  to  Florida. 

Yours,  very  respectfully,  James  Buchanan, 

J.  Y.   Mason, 
Pierre  Soule. 

Hon.  Wm.  L.   Marcy,  Secretary  of  State. 

It  was  a  good  while  before  the  people  of  the  United 
States  ceased  to  be  too  much  surprised  to  have  clear 
understanding  of  the  full  purport  of  the  Ostend  mani- 
festo, and  of  the  Cuban  policy  of  slavery  extension,  of 
which  it  was  an  expression. 

There  was  a  strange  frankness  about  the  proceedings 
of  the  three  ministers,  out  of  our  diplomatic  line  or 
method,  if  we  had  one  that  could  be  defined.  The 
whole  proceeding,  it  is  easy  to  see,  was  mortally  offen- 
sive to  Spain,  and  the  offer  to  purchase  the  Island  only 
made  the  insult  the  keener.  The  touch  of  our  presiden- 
tial strategy,  it  must  be  confessed,  was  rather  clumsy 
to  be  acceptable. 

At  this  time  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  the  "  Young 
America"  and  "manifest  destiny"  man  of  the  democ- 
racy to  succeed  Pierce  in  the  presidency,  and  the  words 
"  manifest  destiny  "  meant  Cuba.  There  were  strong 
articles  in  the  reviews,  and  the  idea  was  abroad  that 
Douglas  was  to  be  president,  and  Cuba  ours,  as  a  matter 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1/9 

of  course.  But  there  was  a  destiny  not  manifest  to  Mr. 
Douglas,  and  it  was  the  nomination  and  election,  in 
1856,  of  James  Buchanan,  the  first  signer  of  the  Ostend 
manifesto,  to  be  president  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Soule  was  prominent  in  the  Cincinnati  convention  that 
nominated  Buchanan,  and  Breckinridge  and  the  Pierce 
administration  was  favorable  to  the  succession  of 
Buchanan,  who  was  expected  to  press  the  annexation  of 
Cuba  at  all  hazards,  and  he  would  have  done  so,  no 
doubt,  if  the  questions  that  resulted  in  war  among  our- 
selves had  not  diverted  our  tendencies. 

There  is  reason  to  think  the  deciding  influence  that-^^^- 
elevated  Buchanan  to  the  great  office  was  the  Cuban 
enterprise.  If  it  had  not  been  for  that,  Young  Ameri- 
can Douglas  would  have  been  president,  and  there 
would  have  been  incalculable  changes,  of  which  it 
is  very  vain  to  speculate. 

It  seemed  for  some  years  that  Mr.  Douglas  was  the 
one  man  in  the  country  sure  to  be  president.  He  was 
immensely  popular  in  the  Northwest  and  had  a  strong 
hold  in  the  South.  He  had  a  grand  voice  and  was  a 
brainy  man  in  the  cultivation  of  his  reputation  among 
the  people. 

His  first  great  stroke  in  Congress  was  his  speech  for 
the  restoration  of  the  fine  imposed  by  a  crank  judge  in 
New  Orleans  upon  General  Jackson  before  he  beat  the 
British,  for  his  declaration  of  martial  law,  and  he 
had  Jackson's  blessing  for  that.  He  made  great  pro- 
gress for  a  young  man,  and  was  vigorous  and  aggres- 
sive as  a  speaker  and  a  man  of  policy.  He  had  done, 
his  share  in  exciting  attention  to  the  position  of  Cuba 
relative  to  the  United  States,  and  shaping  the  course  of 
his  party  to  the  immediate  annexation  of  the  Island. 


l8o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  cabinet  of  Mr.  Pierce  was  strongly  southern  in 
tendency,  and  the  president  was  firmly  for  the  rights 
assumed  by  the  leaders  in  that  section.  The  Ostend 
conference  took  the  direction  of  Cuba's  destiny,  so  far 
as  we  were  concerned,  out  of  the  hands  of  Mr.  Douglas, 
and  Mr.  Buchanan  was  so  placed  as  to  get  the  usufruct 
of  it.  The  South  did  not  sustain  Douglas  at  Cincin- 
nati when  Buchanan  came  to  the  front,  and  the  south- 
ern crisis  came  on,  Douglas  siding  against  the  sec- 
tional extremists  of  his  party  on  the  ultra  doctrine  that 
loomed  behind  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise, 
and  going  further  than  prudence  counseled  in  confront- 
ing Lincoln  in  their  celebrated  debates.  The  result 
was  the  slaughter  of  Douglas  in  the  Charleston  con- 
vention, the  division  of  the  Democratic  party,  the  elec- 
tion of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  great  war  of  the 
states  and   sections. 

The  personal  power  ot  Douglas  was  very  considerable. 
He  had  qualities  very  different  and,  as  an  executive 
man,  superior  to  those  of  Buchanan,  who  was  a  polished 
gentleman  but  not  a  natural  leader  as  Douglas  was. 
Unquestionably,  Douglas  would  have  been  president 
instead  of  Buchanan  or  instead  of  Lincoln,  probably 
both,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  help  Buchanan  got  from 
his  Cuban  affiliations,  and  the  development  of  a  south- 
ern policy  that  Douglas  could  not  be  depended  upon 
to  consent  complacently  to  make  his  rule  of  life  the 
performance  of  his  purposes.  As  president  he  would 
have  been  too  formidable  for  a  faction  of  his  party. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  l8l 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ENGLISH    FAILURE    IN    THE    WEST    INDIES. 

The  Testimony  of  the  Eminent  Historian,  James  Anthony  Froude — 
The  Mismanagement  of  the  English  Islands  by  Free  Trade  Orators 
— Negro  Predominance — The  Spanish  Islands  are  Peopled  with  the 
Children  of  Spaniards — Black  Labor  and  Beet  Sugar — Cuba  and 
the  United  States,  as  an  Englishman  puts  the  Questions  of  Destiny. 

The  most  instructive  work  on  the  West  Indies  is  that 
of  James  Anthony  Froude,  who  visited  those  islands 
ten  years  ago  with  all  his  prejudices  and  powers,  and 
gave  the  result  to  the  world  in  an  attractive  volume. 
His  complaint,  which  runs  through  the  work,  is  that  the 
orator  demagogues  of  England,  and  he  refers  expressly 
to  Mr.  Gladstone,  had  misgoverned  the  colonies  and 
impaired  the  empire.  "The  West  India  Colonies," 
says  Froude,  "had  once  been  more  to  the  English 
'than  casual  seedlings'  left  to  grow  or  wither  accord- 
ing to  their  own  strength." 

More  than  any  other  writer,  Froude  has  illuminated 
the  questions  we  must  have  in  mind  in  contemplation 
of  the  problem  of  the  annexation,  tie  goes  to  the  bot- 
tom of  history  at  once,  saying  the  West  Indies  "  had 
been  regarded  as  precious  jewels  w^hich  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  English  lives  had  been  sacrificed  to  tear 
from  France  and  Spain.  The  Caribbean  Sea  was  the 
cradle  of  the  naval  empire  of  Great  Britain.  There 
Drake  and  Hawkins  intercepted  the  golden  stream  that 
flowed  from  Panama  into  the  exchequer  at  Madrid,  and 
furnished  Philip  with  the  means  to  carry  on  his  war  with 


1 82  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  reformation."  And  "in  those  waters  the  men  were 
formed  and  trained  who  drove  the  armada  through  the 
channel  into  wreck  and  ruin.  In  those  waters  the  cen- 
turies which  followed,  France  and  England  fought  for 
the  ocean  empire,  and  England  won  it — won  it  on  the 
day  when  her  own  politicians'  hearts  had  failed  them 
and  all  the  powers  of  the  world  had  combined  to  humil- 
iate her,  and  Rodney  shattered  the  French  fleet,  saved 
Gibraltar  and  avenged  Yorktown." 

We  have  here  one  of  the  historical  pictures  for  which 
Froude's  writings  are  famous,  and  behold  in  the  West 
Indies  one  of  the  centres  of  imperial  influence  upon  the 
world.  He  has  not  a  high  opinion  of  the  black  man 
who  needs  first,  according  to  this  political  philosopher, 
to  be  saved  from  himself — and  the  West  Indies  should 
have  been  governed  on  the  model  of  the  Eastern  Em- 
pire of  England,  and  not  according  to  the  politics  of 
eloquence.  And  presently  Froude  comes  to  the  source 
of  wealth  in  the  Island,  saying: 

Once  the  West  Indies  had  a  monopoly  of  the  sugar  trade.  Steam 
and  progress  have  given  them  a  hundred  natural  competitors;  and  on  the 
back  of  these  came  the  unnatural  bounty,  the  new  beet-root  sugar  com- 
petition. Meanwhile  the  expense  of  living  increased  in  the  days  of 
inflated  hope  and  "  unexampled  prosperity."  Free  trade,  whatever  its 
immediate  consequences,  was  to  make  everybody  rich  in  the  end.  When 
the  income  of  an  estate  fell  short  one  year  it  was  to  rise  in  the  next,  and 
the  money  was  borrowed  to  make  ends  meet.  When  it  didn't  rise, 
more  money  was  borrowed ;  and  there  is  now  hardly  a  property  in  the 
Island  that  is  not  loaded  to  the  sinking  point.  Tied  to  sugar-growing, 
Barbadoes  has  no  second  industry  to  fall  back  upon.  The  blacks  who 
are  heedless  and  light  hearted,  increase  and  multiply. 

Here  is  a  lesson  in  political  economy  profound  as  the 
picturesque  in  history  from  the  same  hand  is  brilliant; 


university) 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  1 8$ 

and  the  sketch  of  Havana  which  follows  is  very  strik- 
ing and  true,  and  has  appHcation  to  the  Cuban  poHcy. 

Havana  is  a  city  of  palaces,  a  city  of  streets  and  plazas,  of  col- 
onnades and  towers,  and  churches  and  monasteries.  We  English  have 
built  in  these  islands  as  if  we  were  but  passing  visitors,  wanting  only 
tenements  to  be  occupied  for  a  time.  The  Spaniards  built  as  they 
built  in  Castile;  built  with  the  same  material,  the  white  limestone  that 
they  found  in  the  new  world  as  well  as  in  the  old.  The  palaces  of  the 
nobles  in  Havana,  the  residence  of  the  governor,  the  convents,  the 
cathedral,  are  a  reproduction  of  Burgos  or  Valladolid,  as  if  from  some 
Aladin's  lamp  the  Castilian  city  has  been  taken  up  and  set  down  again 
upon  the  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea.  The  buildings  are  on  the  old 
massive  model,  and  however  it  may  be  with  us  and  whatever  the  event- 
ual fate  of  Cuba,  the  Spanish  race  has  taken  root  there,  and  is  visibly 
destined  to  remain.  They  have  poured  their  own  peopk  into  it.  In 
Cuba  alone  there  are  ten  times  as  many  Spaniards  as  there  are  English 
and  Scotch  in  all  our  West  Indies  together,  and  Havana  is  ten  times 
the  size  of  the  largest  of  our  West  Indian  cities. 

Froude  touched  the  torment  of  the  Island  when  he 
said  :  "  A  few  years  since  the  Cubans  born  were  on  the 
eve  of  achieving-  their  independence  like  their  brothers 
in  Mexico  and  South  America.  Perhaps  they  will  yet 
succeed.  Spanish,  at  any  rate,  they  are  to  the  bone  and 
marrow,  and  Spanish  they  will  continue."  Here  we  strike 
an  error,  and  the  mistakes  of  this  writer  are  rock-built. 
The  Cuban  is  not  the  Spaniard.  He  is  an  evolution. 
He  has  been  taught  the  value  of  liberty  in  a  hard  school, 
and  when  he  has  the  force  to  accomplish  it,  he  is  pre- 
pared for  enfranchisement  and  Republican  government.* 


*  Froude,  writing  of  the  Union  Club  in  Havana,  and  startled  by  the  names  of 
gentlemen  there  that  represented  the  grand  old  houses  of  Spain,  this  which  is  an 
example  of  accuracy  occurs  :  The  house  of  Columbus  ought  to  be  there  also,  for 
there  is  still  a  Christophe  Colon,  the  direct  linear  representative  of  the  discov- 
erer, disguised  under  the  title  of  the  Duque  de  Veragua.     A  perpetual  pension  of 


1 86  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

It  is  the  forced  conclusion  of  this  historian  that  the 
EngUsh  did  well  by  Havana  when  they  abandoned  it 
after  they  captured  it  in  1762,  and  he  goes  on  "the 
Spaniards  have  done  more  to  Europeanize  their  islands 
than  we  have  with  ours.  They  have  made  Cuba  Span- 
ish— Trinidad,  Moninica,  St.  Lucia,  Granada,  have  never 
been  English  at  all,  and  Jamaica  and  Barbadoes  are 
ceasing  to  be  English.  Cuba  is  a  second  home  to  the 
Spaniards,  a  permanent  addition  to  their  soil.  We  are 
as  birds  of  passage,  temporary  residents  for  transient 
purposes  with  no  home  in  our  islands  at  all.  Once  we 
thought  them  worth  fighting  for,  and  as  long  as  it  was 
a  question  of  ships  and  cannon,  we  made  ourselves 
supreme  rulers  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  ;  yet  the  French 
and  Spaniards  will  probably  outlive  us  there."  Then 
comes-  the  point  that  the  French  and  Spaniards  in  the 
West  Indies  will  probably  "  Remain  as  Satellites  of  the 
United  States!' 

And  next  we  have,  page  293,  this  powerful  testimony 
from  one  certainly  not  disposed  to  flatter  us  : 

The  opinion  in  Cuba  was  and  is,  that  America  is  a  residuary  legatee 
of  all  the  islands,  Spanish  and  English  equally,  and  that  she  will  be 
forced  to  take  charge  of  them  in  the  end,  whether  she  likes  it  or  not. 
Spain  governs  unjustly  and  corruptly  ;  the  Cubans  will  not  rest  till  they 
are  free  from  her,  and  if  once  independent,  they  will  throw  themselves 
on  American  protection. 

The  most  comprehensive  and  apt  testimony  of  all  is 
this,  pages  316  and  317: 


$20,000  per  year  was  granted  to  the  great  Christophe  and  his  heirs  for  ever  as  a 
charge  on  the  Cuban  revenue.  It  has  been  paid  to  the  family  through  all  changes 
of  dynasty  and  forms  of  government  and  is  paid  to  them  still.  But  the  Duque 
resides  in  Spain  and  the  present  occupation  of  him,  I  was  informed,  is  the  breed- 
tng  and  raising  bulls  for  the  Plaza  Toros  at  Saville. 


HER  ^STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 8/ 

The  Americans    are  the  freest  people   in  the   world  ;  but   in 

THEIR    freedom    THEY    HAVE    TO    OBEY    THE    FUNDAMENTAL    LAWS  OF  THE 

Union.     Again  and  again  in  the  West  Indies  Mr.  Motley's  words 

CAME  BACK  TO  ME  :    "  To  BE  TAKEN    INTO  THE  AMERICAN  UnION  IS  TO  BE 

ADOPTED  INTO  PARTNERSHIP."  To  belong  to  a  crown  colony  of  the 
British  Empire,  as  things  stand,  is  no  partnership  at  all.  It  is  to  belong 
to  the  power  which  sacrifices,  as  it  has  always  sacrificed,  the  interest  of 
its  dependencies  to  its  own.  The  blood  runs  freely  through  every  vein 
and  artery  of  the  American  body  corporate.  Every  single  citizen  feels 
his  share  in  the  life  of  his  nation.  Great  Britain  leaves  her  crown  col- 
onies to  take  care  of  themselves,  refuses  what  they  ask,  and  forces  on 
them  What  they  had  rather  be  without.  If  I  were  a  West  Indian,  I 
should  feel  that  under  the  stars  and  stripes  I  should  be  safer  than  I  was  at 
present  from  political  experimenting.  I  should  have  a  market  in  which  to 
sell  my  produce  where  I  should  be  treated  as  a  friend  ;  I  should  have  a 
power  behind  me  and  protecting  me,  and  I  should  have  a  future  to  which  I 
could  look  forward  with  confidence.  America  would  restore  me  a  home 
and  life  ;  Great  Britain  allows  me  to  sink,  contenting  herself  with  advising 
me  to  be  patient.  Why  should  I  continue  loyal  when  my  loyalty  was  so  con- 
temptuously valued  ?     But  I  will  not  believe  that  it  will  come  to  this. 

The  English  historian  goes  on  to  declare  that  the 
planters  of  the  West  Indies  ceased  to  be  useful  to  Eng- 
land, and  adds: 

We  practiced  our  virtues  vicariously  at  their  expense;  we  had  the 
praise  and  honor,  they  had  the  suffering.  They  begged  that  the  eman- 
cipation might  be  gradual;  our  impatience  to  clear  our  reputation  re- 
fused to  wait.  Their  system  of  cultivation  being  deranged,  they  peti- 
tioned for  protection  against  the  competition  of  countries  where  slavery 
continued.  The  request  was  natural,  but  could  not  be  listened  to,  be- 
cause to  grant  it  might  raise  infinitesimally  the  cost  of  the  British  work- 
man's breakfast.  They  struggled  on,  and  even  when  a  new  rival  rose 
in  the  beet-root  sugar,  they  refused  to  be  beaten.  The  European  pow- 
ers, to  save  their  beet-root,  went  on  to  support  it  with  a  bounty. 
Against  the  purse  of  foreign  governments  the  sturdiest  individuals  can- 
not compete.  Defeated  in  a  fight  which  had  become  unfair,  the  plant- 
ers looked  and  looked  in  vain  to  their  own  government  for  help.  Finding 
none,  they  turned  to  their  kindred  in  the  United  States;  and  there,  at 


1 88  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

last,  they  found  a  hand  held  out  to  them.  The  Americans  were  willing,. 
though  at  a  loss  of  two  millions  and  a  half  of  revenue,  to  admit  the  poor 
West  Indians  to  their  own  market.  But  a  commercial  treaty  was  neces- 
sary; and  a  treaty  could  not  be  made  without  the  sanction  of  the 
English  government.  The  English  government,  on  some  fine-drawn 
crotchet,  refused  to  colonies  which  were  weak  and  helpless,  what  they 
would  have  granted  without  a  word,  if  demanded  by  Victoria  or  New 
South  Wales,  whose  resentment  they  feared. 

There  could  not  be  a  more  destructive  denunciation 
of  the  British  colonial  system  or  a  more  admirable  pre- 
sentation of  the  advantages  that  we  possess.  We  have 
room  for  states,  and  Cuba  is  at  the  gates  of  the  Gulf 
that  is  our  southern  boundary,  and  belongs,  in  spite  of 
Spanish  monopoly,  to  our  commercial  system.  No  Eng- 
lishman could  speak  with  higher  authority  on  this  sub- 
ject than  James  Anthony  Froude,  and  no  one  has 
uttered  more  weighty  words  for  the  cause  of  the  annex- 
ation of  Cuba  to  the  American  Union.  This  is  the  policy 
of  patriotism. 

The  following  extract,  from  a  message  of  President 
John  Quincy  Adams,  notes  the  state  of  public  interest  in 
Cuba  at  the  time  Spain  was  losing  her  great  colonies  on 
the  continent : 

The  condition  of  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  is  of  deeper  im- 
port, and  more  immediate  bearing  upon  the  present  interest  and  future 
prospects  of  our  Union.  The  correspondence  herewith  transmitted  will 
show  how  earnestly  it  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the  government. 
The  invasion  of  both  those  islands  by  the  united  forces  of  Mexico  and 
Colombia,  is  avowedly  among  the  objects  matured  by  the  belligerent 
states  at  Panama.  The  convulsions  to  which,  from  ^h^  peculiar  compo- 
sitions of  their  population,  they  would  be  liable  in  the  event  of  such  an 
invasion,  and  the  danger  therefrom  resulting  of  their  falling,  ultimately, 
into  the  hands  of  some  European  power  other  than  Spain,  will  not  admit  of 
our  looking  at  the  consequences,  to  which  the  Congress  of  Panama  may 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  1 89 

lead,  with  indifference.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  upon  this  topic,  or 
to  say,  more  than  all,  our  efforts  in  reference  to  this  interest  will  be  10 
preserve  the  existing  state  of  things. 

The  italicized  lines  show  the  tender  places  in  the 
public  mind  of  that  time. 

In  a  volume,  "  Cuba  and  the  Cubans,"  heretofore 
quoted,  pleading  the  cause  of  Cuba,  and  giving  in  his- 
toric form  the  grievances  her  people  held  against  Spain, 
and  glimpses  of  destiny,  we  read  : 

It  is'  certain  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  did  not  hesitate 
to  sympathize  with  the  Greeks  in  their  struggle  for  liberty,  and  were  only 
prevented  by  a  constitutional  objection  from  granting  them  substantial 
national  aid.  To  preserve  a  settled  state  of  things,  the  United  States, 
as  has  been  shown,  promptly  interfered  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  Cuba 
by  Mexico  and  Colombo.  How  far  the  same  government  ought  now  to 
interfere,  again  to  preserve  things  from  change,  or  how  far  it  ought  to 
forward  the  change,  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  here. 

Spain  is  too  weak  much  longer  to  hold  her  Cuban  possessions.  It 
needs  but  to  strike  the  blow,  and  independence  is  achieved  to  the  Island. 
In  this  instance  the  first  step  is  emphatically  half  the  journey,  and  that 
step  will  not  long  be  delayed. 

Cuba  has  the  power,  as  well  as  the  will  and  wisdom,  to  be  free.  It 
cannot  be  kept  forever  in  bonds,  endowed  as  she  is  with  a  population  of 
1,200,000;  with  a  revenue  of  $20,000,000;  with  the  intercourse  and  light 
attending  $60,000,000  of  outward  and  inward  trade;  with  a  territory 
equal  to  that  of  the  larger  states;  with  a  soil  teeming  with  the  choicest 
productions;  with  forests  of  the  most  precious  woods;  with  magnificent 
and  commanding  harbors;  with  an  unmatched  position  as  the  warder  of 
the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  the  guardian  of  the  communication  with  the 
Pacific;  Cuba,  the  Queen  of  the  American  Islands,  will  not  consent 
always  to  remain  a  manacled  slave;  and  when  the  chains  are  to  break, 
the  United  States  can  no  more  say,  "Cuba  is  naught  to  us,"  than  Cuba 
can  detach  herself  from  her  anchorage  in  her  portals  of  the  American 
sea,  or  her  sentinelship  over  against  the  entrance  of  the  thousand- 
armed  Mississippi, 

Then  arises  the  question,  what  is  to  become  of  Cuba  ?    She  will  re- 


I90  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

main  independent  ;  she  will  come  under  the  protection  of  England,  or 
she  will  form  one  of  the  confederated  United  States. 

So  far  as  the  interests  of  Cuba  are  concerned,  a  connection  with  Eng- 
land of  the  advantageous  character  which  that  country  would  inevitably 
grant  to  the  Island,  or  annexation  to  the  United  States,  would  be  more  for 
its  welfare  and  prosperity,  than  for  her  to  maintain  the  position  of  soli- 
tary independence.  It  is  rational,  then,  to  suppose  she  would  adopt  one 
of  the  two  remaining  positions. 

That  Cuba  should  ever  fall  under  the  power  or  influence  of  England 
is  a  thing  simply  out  of  the  question.  The  United  States  cannot  permit 
any  European  power  to  erect  a  Gibraltar  that  will  command  both  north 
and  south,  and  which  can  at  any  moment  cut  '"\  two  the  trade  between 
the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  states,  and  break  up  at  pleasure  the  sea  communi- 
cation between  New  Qrleans  and  New  York.  In  a  military  point  of 
view,  Cuba  locks  up  in  a  closed  ring  the  whole  sweep  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf.  Its  700  miles  of  coast  is  one  mighty  fortress  ;  each  one  of  its 
hundred  hill-crowned  bays  is  a  haven  of  shelter  to  an  entire  navy,  and  an 
outpost  to  sentinel  every  movement  of  offense,  and  to  bar  out  every  act 
of  hostile  import. 

Standing  like  a  warder  in  the  entrance  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  yet 
stretching  far  to  the  east,  so  as  to  overlook  and  intercept  any  unfriendly 
demonstration  to  either  of  the  great  thoroughfares  of  South  America  or 
the  Pacific,  it  is  in  a  position  to  overawe  the  adjacent  islands,  and  watch 
and  defend  all  the  outside  approaches  to  the  Isthmus  routes  to  the 
Pacific,  while  it  guards  the  portals  of  the  vast  inland  sea,  the  reservoir 
of  the  Mexican  and  Mississippi  trade,  the  rendevouz  of  California  tran- 
sit, and,  what  has  not  yet  been  duly  heeded,  the  outlet  of  a  new-born 
mineral  wealth,  which  is  yet  to  control  the  mineral  markets  of  Christendom. 

In  short,  it  makes  a  complete  bulwark  of  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

This  is  all  true  now,  except  the  non-fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy  of  speedy  release — which  was  written  half  a 
century  ago — from  the  yoke  of  Spain,  and  there  has 
been  the  immense  change  of  the  abolishment  of  slavery 
in  the  United  States  and  Cuba,  perfecting  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  annexation  of  Cuba  on  the  lines  of  liberty. 

The  testimony  of  the  English  historian,  that  his  coun- 
trymen are  not  competent   to   take   care  of   Cuba,  is 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  19 1 

important  and  pertinent,  and  will  be  more  and  more 
serious4y  regarded.  The  latest  thing  is  a  league  of  the 
West  Indies  with  European  protection,  but  the  Island 
has  a  nobler  destiny,  and  what  it  is  any  atlas  of  the 
Americas  displays. 


192  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  xni. 

THE    CITY    OF    HAVANA. 

Life  in  the  Capital  of  Cuba  during  the  War  Time. — Hotel  Apartments 
and  Furniture — Breakfasts — Barber  Shops — Bar  Rooms — Narrow 
Streets— The  Double  Standard— The  Water  Jug— A  Hot  Weather 
Town — A  Tender-Necked  People — The  Casino  and  the  Castle  and 
the  Royal  Palms  in  the  Garden. 

Havana  has  many  marks  of  antiquity  and  of  a  place 
v^here  the  expenditure  of  money  has  been  lavish.  It  is 
largely  a  city  of  palaces  on  streets  that  would  be 
regarded  as  alleys  in  New  York.  There  are  elegant 
marble  structures  on  narrow  and  dirty  thoroughfares, 
and  many  very  respectable  houses  wretchedly  situated. 
The  people  are  not  allowed  to  build  as  they  please. 
There  is  an  official  engineer  whose  taste  must  be 
regarded.  The  habit  of  the  builders  is  thick  walls, 
high  ceilings,  tile  floors  and  roofs  ;  solid  and  lofty  por- 
ticos ;  all  expert  preparations  for  hot  weather,  and  yet 
the  heat  is  not  so  formidable  for  its  excess  as  its  con- 
tinuity. It  is  very  rare  the  temperature  reaches  90° — 
89°  Fahrenheit  is  called  the  maximum  and  50°  the  min- 
imum. Cities  in  our  Northern  States  show  figures  of 
30°  below  zero  and  105°  above  ;  a  range  of  135,°  while 
in  Havana  the  degrees  between  the  extremes  are  but 
40.  The  even  temperature  of  Cuba  is  accounted  for  by 
the  relations  of  the  sun  and  the  ocean  and  the  generous 
temper  of  the  winds. 

The  view   given    of  the   city  in  this  volume  is  one 


^  7, 

^  V 

t/3  o 

<  a 

O  a 

05  W 

O  u 


.       f^        OFTHE  ^ 

Calif  oRH\^ 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  195 

not  familiar.  It  is  Havana  as  seen  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  harbor,  the  mouth  of  which  is  in  the  distance  and 
the  tower  of  Moro  Castle  on  the  right.  The  white  hme 
stone,  of  which  Havana  is  chiefly  built,  appears  to 
advantage.  The  city  is  of  remarkably  massive  struc- 
tures. There  has  been  much  marble  used,  and  the  strong 
towers  and  colonnades  are  of  imposing  presence  ; 
and  such  is  the  strength  of  the  walls  and  the  scarcity 
of  inflammable  material,  the  roofs  and  floors  being  of 
tile,  a  great  deal  of  bombardment  would  be  required  to 
do  serious  damage.  The  key  of  the  city  in  a  military 
sense  is  the  fortress  on  elevated  ground  between  the 
cemetery  and  the  captain-general's  garden,  and  that  is 
always  garrisoned  by  a  most  reliable  regiment  and 
equipped  with  modern  artillery. 

The  view  of  Moro  Castle  that  we  give  is  not  the  one 
most  popular,  which  displays  the  city  also,  but  it  is  that 
seen  on  the  left  by  the  passengers  on  the  New  York 
steamers  arriving  and  also  on  the  right  in  departing. 
As  we  see  the  castle  in  this  drawing,  Havana  is  on  the 
right,  the  harbor  directly  ahead,  and  the  front  of  the 
fortification  looks  upon  the  Atlantic,  the  course  to 
Florida  being  directly  from  the  sail-boat,  over  the  rocks 
on  the  extreme  left ;  and  there  is  said  to  be  many  cav- 
erns, through  which  the  rush  of  the  waves  makes 
music  ;  but  the  tides  are  not  sufficient  to  cause  a  com- 
motion, and  the  winds,  therefore,  are  solely  responsible 
for  the  agitation.  In  the  caves,  the  sharks  that  haunt 
the  Havana  harbor  are  said  to  be  at  home. 

Moro  is  not  now  regarded  a  very  strong  fortress. 
The  real  reliance  for  the  protection  of  the  harbor  is  in 
fortifications  on  the  hills  beyond,  from  which  the  Brit- 
ish and  Yankees,  under  General  Putnam,  pounded  the 


196  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

castle  when  they  took  the  town  and  looted  it,  Lord 
Albemarle's  share  of  cold  cash  being  about  ;^ioo,ooo. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  scenery  of  cul- 
tivated Cuba  is  the  Avenue  of  Palms.  The  Royal  Palm 
is  the  most  stately  of  trees.  The  trunk  is  so  tough  that 
it  will  often  turn  rifle  balls  that  would  strike  through  an 
ordinary  wood.  The  palms  rarely  attain  the  height  of 
100  feet,  but  their  grace  makes  them  seem*  taller. 
When  the  flaunting  leaf  in  order  falls,  it  brings  with 
it  some  feet  of  green  husk  of  the  tree  which,  as  it 
grows,  sheds  the  lower  leaf  always,  so  that  there  is  the 
elegant  trunk  with  its  splendid  plumage  held  on  high, 
feathery  and  brilliant.  The  cast  off  envelope  is  used  to 
cover  bales  of  tobacco  and  the  whole  tree  is  admi- 
rably adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  people.  Standing  in 
delicate  grandeur  along  the  roads,  these  palms  remind 
one  of  the  Lombardy  poplars  trimmed  to  a  top-knot  of 
foliage  that  line  the  turnpikes  of  France,  but  the  palm 
seems  to  tell  tales  in  whispers  of  Egypt  and  the  Orient. 
Doubtless  it  was  the  palm  in  Cuba  that  confirmed 
to  Columbus  his  fancy  when  he  landed,  that  he  had 
found  Cipango  or  Cathay — lands  of  Asiatic  mystery. 

The  once  opulent  planters  of  the  Island  were  fond, 
in  the  days  of  pomp,  of  approaching  their  country 
palaces  through  avenues  of  royal  palms,  and  now  the 
solemn,  neglected  trees  tell  of  the  glories  of  the  days 
that  are  gone. 

One  of  the  beauties  of  Havana,  of  the  most  venerable 
associations,  is  the  chapel  erected  on  the  spot  where  the 
first  mass  was  celebrated  in  the  New  World.  The  ser- 
vice was  under  a  noble  tree,  one  of  the  giants  of  the 
Cuban  forests,  the  Cieba  ;  and  not  that  tree,  but  one  of 
the  kind,  rises  above  the  snowy   marble  of  the  chapel 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  197 

and  is  reverently  regarded.  The  location  is  between  the 
palace  and  the  landing. 

Havana  is  paved  with  granite  and  harder  stone 
blocks.  The  streets  are  excessively  noisy,  and,  as  a 
rule,  unclean.  It  is  thought  remarkable  in  Washington 
city  that  dust  arises  within  four  hours  after  a  shower. 
In  Havana  one  hour  after  the  streets  are  flooded,  under 
the  flaming  sun  and  high  wind,  dust  resumes  its  sway. 

The  most  splendid  residences  in  the  city  are  of  mod- 
est exteriors,  but  when  you  walk  in,  there  are  "marble 
halls "  to  remember  in  dreams,  and  areas  surrounded 
with  carved  galleries,  and  floored  as  with  solid  snow, 
where  the  merchant  princes  and  sugar  and  tobacco 
planters,  before  the  evil  days,  sat  in  caned  chairs  and 
smoked  under  the  stars. 

There  is  not  a  fireplace  to  warm  a  room,  or  a  window 
shielded  with  glass  in  the  city,  but  there  are  openings 
from  all  sorts  of  structures  on  the  streets — apertures 
guarded  by  bars  of  steel,  often  decorative,  always 
strong,  and  each  with  two  sets  of  curtains,  and  two  of 
shutters ;  and  there  is  one  great  charm,  the  highest 
achievement  of  architecture  is  ventilation. 

The  beautiful  picture,  from  a  photograph  of  the  cor- 
ridor of  the  Havana  casino,  is  valuable  for  displaying 
the  splendor  of  the  cool  interiors  of  the  highest  class  of 
buildings  the  Spanish  race  have  reared  in  the  tropics. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  tropical  Spaniard  is  an  exag- 
geration of  the  Spaniard  at  home — the  Spanish  charac- 
teristics, made  picturesque,  appear.  The  general  expres- 
sion of  Havana,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  grand  old 
cities  in  Spain,  gives  a  hint  of  this. 

My  gigantic  eastern  window,  twenty  feet  high  and 
eight  feet  wide,  has  the  brilliant  narrow  frame  of  col- 

C — 12 


198  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

ored  glass  and  two  sets  of  shutters,  the  outer  one  with 
open  work,  by  which  the  air  may  be  regulated,  and  the 
inner  of  solid  timber,  behind  which  one  might  laugh 
a  siege  to  scorn,  if  trouble  came  in  that  form.  The 
shutters  opened,  the  windows  are  festooned  with  lace 
curtains,  and  beyond,  far  out  over  the  street,  is  a  white 
balcony. 

When  I  enjoy  one  of  many  rocking  chairs  on  this 
marble  projection,  the  snowy  form  of  Isabella,  shining  in 
the  light  of  the  moon  and  the  electric  lamps,  is  straight 
before  me,  and  far  down  the  Avenue  of  Parks  shines 
the  light  of  the  famous  Moro  Castle  —  not  a  powerful 
fortress,  any  more,  they  say,  but  a  gloomy,  picturesque 
structure  at  which  the  American  girls  passing  that  way 
will  forever,  no  doubt,  snap  their  Kodaks.  This  would 
be  a  fine  place  to  burn  Cuban  tobacco.  The  window 
shutters  and  door  are  of  blue  frames  and  gray  panels. 
The  mighty  walls  are  a  mournful  green  with  gold  mould- 
ing running  around  the  ceiling  and  the  door  and  the 
windows,  and  separating  the  corners  that  are  a  deeper 
blue  than  the  great  expanse  of  colors,  from  the  other 
shade.  There  are  in  this  enchanted  apartment,  including 
the  floor,  four  distinct  blues  and  three  greens ;  and  I 
trace  two  other  blue  tints,  and  crimson  and  orange,  and 
some  specks  of  rainbow  mixture  in  the  spread  on  the 
bed,  which  one  is  supposed  to  pull  over  the  knees  when 
midnight  cools  the  air  in  sultry  midwinter !  The  Span- 
ish yellow  predominates  in  the  upper  and  inner  window 
curtains — but,  as  they  are  six  feet  beyond  reach,  one 
does  not  become  familiar  with  them.  There  are  scarlet 
trimmings  around  the  canopies  of  mosquito  curtains, 
that  on  a  steel  frame  adorned  with  bronzes  and  mother- 
of-pearl,   making  the  bed  Oriental,  as  it  were  ;  and  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  199 

ribbon  loops  that  hold  back  the  gauzy  curtains  of  the 
bed  are  vivid  crimson.  The  splendid  Spanish  arms  on 
broad,  g-olden  shields,  are  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the 
sumptuous  couch  ;  and  there  are  curtains  trimmed  with 
lace  that  hide  the  legs  of  the  steel  bedstead,  and  have 
the  effect  of  pantalets. 

I  cannot  make  oath  that  the  towering  wardrobe, 
which  has  not  a  hook  in  it,  and  the  elaborate  washstand, 
and  the  superb  commode  are  solid  mahogany,  but  they 
should  be  ;  and  if  a  table  with  long,  crooked,  black  legs, 
that  stands  against  the  wall,  is  not  ebony,  it  is  a  fraud — 
and  I  do  not  care  whether  it  is  or  not.  There  are  so 
many  frauds,  so  what  is  the  difference  ?  Do  not  regard 
me  as  boastful  about  this  bedroom,  for  it  is  but  a  type 
of  the  Cuban  sleeping  apartment. 

As  for  the  breezy  balcony,  upon  which  there  is  room 
for  more  than  one  rocking  chair — but  it  is  quite  vacant 
because  too  lonesome  for  one — the  marble  balcony,  so 
cool  and  white,  from  w^hich  I  hoped  to  see  the  Southern 
cross,  but  cannot — the  fault  being  in  the  latitude,  I  be- 
lieve ;  and  as  for  the  moon  that  climbs  the  divine  sky 
of  Cuba,  we  should  say:  "  Roll  on,  silver  moon;  light  the 
traveler  on  his  way."  If  it  were  as  big  and  magnetic  as 
it  was  before  the  war,  before  the  world  knew  war  in  my 
time,  I  would  go  down  and  buy  the  fragrant  flowers 
that  they  silently  sell  apparently  far  into  the  nights  ; 
but  perched  in  my  bower,  so  to  say,  catch  the  faint 
perfume  and  behold  the  blush  of  the  roses,  and  am  car- 
ried away  by  precious  memories  to  the  "  land  that  is 
fairer  than  this,"  and  hear  once  again  loved  voices  sing- 
ing as  long,  long  ago  ;  and  the  burden  of  the  song  is 
still,  "  Beautiful  star,  thou  art  so  near  and  yet  so  far." 

The  window  shutters,  mind,  there  is  only  a  little  col- 


200  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

ored  glass  in  the  windows,  as  the  shutters  naturally  fall 
into  their  places,  and,  as  the  gorgeous  bed  is  located, 
when  my  eyes  open  to  the  morning  light,  it  streams 
in,  red  as  blood.  The  glass  covering  that  particular 
spot  is  a  perfect  circle,  and  it  is  divided,  like  a  globe, 
into  zones,  only  there  are  no  temperate  zones.  The  torrid 
one  extends  over  all  the  temperate  regions,  and  is  a  rich 
red,  while  the  frozen  poles  are  intensified  sky  blue. 

One  must  testify  the  regularity  of  the  habits  of  the 
Cubans.  There  is  sensitiveness  to  uniformity  in  the 
servants  that  gives  one  a  hint  of  Chinese  exactness. 
When  I  touch  the  button  at  the  head  of  the  bed  at  7 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  feel  bound  by  the  iron 
rules  in  the  air  to  do  it,  a  bearded  friend  appears  in 
150  seconds,  puts  in  a  grim  face  on  which  there  is  no 
trace  of  a  smile,  and  says  one  word,  "  Coffee  ?"  I  nod 
like  a  wooden  man,  and  say,  "  Good  morning."  Five 
minutes  pass,  there  is  a  light  knock,  and  a  man,  dressed 
in  undershirt,  breeches  and  shoes,  appears,  and  bears 
on  a  silver  waiter  two  silver  pots,  one  with  the  handle 
for  the  right  hand,  holding  black  coffee,  and  one  with 
the  handle  for  the  left  hand,  full  of  hot  milk. 

There  is  a  small  roll  of  delicious  bread  and  a  smaller 
roll  of  good  butter,  and  they  never  vary  a  hair's  breadth  ; 
two  oranges,  all  the  juicy  cells  opened  by  the  keen  knife 
that  has  shaved  the  skin  away  and  not  shed  a  drop  of 
orange  blood.  The  notable  thing  about  the  two 
oranges,  next  to  it  that  they  are  good,  is  that  usually  they 
are  of  the  same  size  ;  but  if  one  is  larger  than  the  average 
the  other  is  that  much  smaller,  and  this  is  as  invariable 
as  if  the  oranges  were  weighed  on  scales  that  accounted 
for  the  hundredth  part  of  an  ounce. 

The  coffee  and  oranges  and  bread  and  butter  are  not 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  201 

your  breakfast.  The  breakfast  hour  is  1 1  o'clock,  and 
that  meal  begins  with  olives  and  radishes  and  sardines 
and  several  other  delicacies  ;  then  comes  a  broiled  fish,  a 
wall-eyed  perch,  with  a  dash  of  Spanish  colors  in  his 
skin,  and  after  chops,  or  steaks,  eggs,  or  one  of  many 
omelets.  Then  come  cucumbers,  slender  but  long,  and 
cut  in  thick  slices,  with  oil  and  vinegar,  pepper  and  salt. 
With  cuts  of  cucumber,  surrounded  by  slices  of  toma- 
toes, both  vegetables  juicy,  the  general  effect  is  that  de- 
scribed by  the  pious  colored  man  when  he  undertook  to 
tell  about  cold  fat  possum  and  sweet  potatoes,  and 
failed,  but  mentioned  in  despair,  it  was  just  "  too  good." 
Perhaps  the  Cuban  1 1  o'clock  breakfast  does  not  con- 
duce to  energy,  but  rather  to  meditation,  especially  if 
it  is  mingled  with  Spanish  claret. 

There  is  exactness  in  the  hotel  service  throuofhout. 
When  the  1 1  o'clock  breakfast  and  7  o'clock  dinner 
come  ofif,  the  same  people  appear  at  the  same  round 
tables,  and  dishes  are  served  in  an  order  and  accord- 
ing to  a  system  that  must  have  its  traditions,  history, 
laws  and  mathematics.  - 

One  may  trust  that  whatever  shall  happen  in  the 
fields  of  battle  in  Cuba,  or  the  Parliament  of  Spain, 
there  will  be  nothing  done  that  can  disturb  the  peace- 
ful and  perfect  order  of  the  bedrooms  and  dining- 
rooms  of  Havana,  the  attractions,  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  which  must  have  grown,  for  they  could  not 
have  been  invented. 

The  very  northern  or  southern  cities,  as  a  rule,  have 
narrow  streets.  Only  in  the  temperate  zone  do  you 
find  ample  thoroughfares.  One  notes  this  peculiarity  of 
close  building  in  the  most  northern  and  southern  of 
my  personal  observation,  Reyjkavik  and  Havana — the 


202  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

capitals  of  Iceland,  that  barely  touches  the  Arctic  region, 
and  of  Cuba,  just  within  the  tropical  belt.  The  outer  as 
well  as  the  inner  walls  of  the  buildings  are  expected  to 
shelter  the  people  from  excessive  cold  or  heat. 

In  Havana  the  important  business  streets  are  re- 
markably narrow,  one  containing  many  fine  shops 
being  but  twenty-five  feet  from  house  to  house,  and,  in 
consequence,  the  sidewalks  on  some  of  the  squares 
cannot  be  traversed  by  two  persons  side  by  side;  and 
as  the  walks  are  a  foot  above  the  pavements,  when  one 
meets  a  pedestrian  he  has  to  put  one  leg  over  the 
curbstone  and  give  room — that  is  unless  both  are  slen- 
der and  accommodating.  There  is  so  much  of  stepping 
off  into  the  street  done  that  it  is  important  to  do  it 
gracefully,  though  the  act  itself  is  regarded  as  a  matter 
of  course.  I  have  found  it  advantageous  to  glide 
behind  a  stout  lady  and  follow  her  closely,  the  great 
majority  of  those  she  meets  yielding  her  the  wall  and 
waiting  with  one  leg  off  the  sidewalk,  until  we  have 
marched  by  in  procession,  as  it  were. 

When  one  comes  to  a  square,  with  the  sidewalk 
broad  enough  for  two  single  files  of  the  populace  to 
proceed  in  opposite  directions,  there  is  a  cheerful  sense 
of  relief.  The  roadways  are  so  restricted  in  these 
streets  that  three  carriages  cannot  move  abreast.  If 
one  has  stopped,  so  that  the  hubs  protrude  over  the 
sidewalk,  which  is  fashionable,  carriages  cannot  pass 
on  the  space  unoccupied.  Care  has  to  be  taken  that 
two  carriages  waiting,  one  on  either  side  of  the  street, 
shall  not  be  located  exactly  opposite  each  other,  for  if 
they  did  there  would  be  a  blockade  ;  and  so  on  the  great 
shopping  streets  carriages  can  move  but  one  way.  In 
many  places  awnings  are  spread  from  house  to  house 


AVENUK  OF  PAI,MS,   HAVANA 


y^        OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY^ 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  205 

two  stories  high,  covering  the  whole  street,  and  useful 
in  resisting  sunshine  or  rain. 

The  cafes  are  especially  large  and  handsome.  It  is 
curious  to  see  in  February  the  marble  floors  sprinkled 
with  sawdust  and  dampened  with  a  view  to  coolness, 
like  beer  halls  in  our  own  land  in  the  thirsty  days  of 
July  ;  and  it  is  still  more  conducive  to  geographical  re- 
flection to  eat  in  a  hotel  dining  and  breakfasting  room 
on  a  level  with  the  street,  and  find  the  favorite  tables 
those  nearest  wide-open  doors. 

There  are  three  money  standards  in  this  country — 
American  gold,  Spanish  gold,  and  silver,  and  there  is  a 
great  time  in  close  calculations.  I  noticed  a  newly- 
arrived  American  citizen  in  a  cafe,  treating  three 
friends  to  beverages  of  their  several  selections,  and  par- 
taking of  his  own  hospitality,  and  you  will  observe  this 
means  four  drinks.  Payment  was  made  with  an  Ameri- 
can five-dollar  gold  piece,  and,  settling  the  account,  he 
received  in  change  a  five- dollar  Spanish  gold  piece  and 
forty  cents, 

He  was  so  well  pleased  that  he  "  treated "  again, 
this  time  paying  with  the  Spanish  gold  piece,  and 
his  change  was  five  silver  dollars  and  forty  cents. 

'*  Now,"  said  he,  "  I'm  going  to  study  out  this  thing 
and  get  up  a  scheme.  It  seems  there  is  money  to  be 
made  by  taking  to  drink.  The  more  liquor  I  buy,  the 
more  money  I've  got.  This  must  be  the  double 
standard." 

There  was  twenty  per  cent,  premium  on  American 
gold  compared  with  Spanish,  and  twenty  per  cent,  on 
Spanish  gold  as  compared  with  silver,  so  my  friend's 
computation  was  correct.  He  had  out  of  $5.00  spent 
$1.20  in  drink,  and  still  had  $5.80  in  silver. 


206  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  money  reformers  and  patriots  here,  I  am  in- 
formed, want  "  more  money,"  in  the  sense  of  more 
kinds  of  money,  and  the  financiers  contemplate  an  ex- 
traordinary issue  of  paper.  When  that  happens,  my 
friend  can  pay  for  the  drinks  with  a  silver  dollar  and 
get  back  a  paper  dollar  and  a  lot  of  change.  Talking 
of  the  "  double  standard,"  why,  the  Cubans  have  the 
triple  standard — two  gold  standards  and  one  silver  one, 
and,  owing  to  our  preservation  of  the  "  parity,"  our 
silver  paper  stands  at  a  premium  over  Spanish  gold, 
and  American  silver  beats  the  Spanish  two  to  one. 

The  average  American  barkeeper,  no  doubt,  holds  the 
Cuban  brother  in  contempt,  but  he  should  not.  They 
manufacture  cocktails  in  Havana  with  great  energy 
and  rapidity.  From  the  moment  the  compounder 
seizes  two  glasses  and  fills  one  with  ice  and  swipes  into 
the  other  the  liquors  and  the  bitters,  and  the  sweets, 
and  then,  with  a  swinging  motion,  dashes  the  ice  and 
fluids  from  glass  to  glass,  clinking  the  crystal  in  a  way 
that  would  delight  a  German's  sense  of  sound,  not  a 
moment  is  lost,  until  after  it-  is  all  in  one  glass  and 
flung  through  a  strainer  into  another  that  must  be  just 
brimming  full,  and  then  the  assurance  of  the  American 
appetite  is  expected  to  grasp  the  decoction  with  the 
same  furious  avidity  with  which  it  is  compounded  and 
well  shaken  before  taken.  It  should  not  be  forgotten 
that  there  is  a  large  and  very  heavy  glass  and  a  small 
one.  It  is  the  latter  from  which  you  imbibe.  The  big 
one  is  planted,  when  its  share  of  the  work  is  accom- 
plished, in  the  centre  of  the  counter  with  a  bang,  and 
the  final  thwack  is  given  with  an  air  of  triumph  and 
jocose  gesture. 

The  Cuban  water  jug  is  a  delight,  for,  as  a  basis  of 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  20/ 

joys,  Havana  has  an  abundance  of  pure  water  and  a 
monument  to  the  engineer  who  laid  out  the  works. 
The  jug  is  a  round,  brown  one,  with  two  holes  in  it 
near  the  handle,  which  is  on  top.  One  hole  is,  perhaps, 
an  inch  in  diameter,  to  pour  the  water  in,  and  the 
other  small,  the  size  of  the  hollow  of  a  large  quill,  and 
this  is  in  a  nob  that  marks  the  place.  It  is  the  old  story 
of  the  bung  and  the  spigot.  Filled  with  water,  the  jug 
is  hung  on  a  long  iron  rod,  swinging  from  the  top  of 
the  workroom,  and  located  in  a  spot  that  is  draughty. 
The  currents  of  air  make  the  thick,  porous  jug  "  per- 
spire," and  the  water  is  not  ice  water,  but  cool  and 
wholesome.  The  Cuban  way  of  drinking  is  not  to 
touch  the  vessel  with  the  lips,  but  to  open  the  mouth 
and,  holding  up  the  jug,  tip  it  until  the  water  streams  C 
into  the  throat,  making  a  curve  and  falling  five  or  six  j 
inches,  striking  the  root  of  the  tongue. 

A  series  of  parks  bisect  the  city.  There  are  fine 
shade  trees,  and  they  rise  from  deserts  of  sharp  sand. 
Once  in  place  of  sand  there  was  turf,  but  it  was  thought 
the  grass  was  objectionable,  and  the  sod  was  cut  away. 

One  of  the  old  planter  princes  lives  in  a  white  marble 
mansion  that  is  magnificently  appointed,  and  in  magni- 
tude and  sumptuous  taste  would  take  high  rank  if  lo- 
cated on  one  of  the  best  streets  in  New  York  city,  and 
yet  the  New  Yorker  would  call  the  dingy  street  before 
his  doors  and  windows,  all  fortified  with  iron  rods 
that  are  very  handsome,  disgusting  names.  This  gen- 
tleman has  a  large  family,  and  insists  that  his  sons  with 
their  wives,  and  daughters  with  their  husbands,  shall 
all  live  under  his  ample  roof ;  and  he  rejoices  in  many 
grandchildren.  It  is  said  the  average  of  births  in  the  j 
house  is  one  a  month.  -^ 


208  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  cafe  capacity  of  this  city  is  enormous.  There 
are  hundreds  that  would  be  attractive  in  any  city,  all 
constructed  to  be  airy,  and  they  cook  chicken  almost 
as  well  as  in  Paris,  and  beat  the  Parisian  salads.  The 
lettuce  is  a  dream,  and  as  they  dress  it  along  with  to- 
matoes, it  allures  one  to  excess.  The  claret  is  good, 
but  the  French  have  a  patent  on  that  which  is  pure 
as  water  ought  to  be,  and  adds  the  color  of  the  rose 
to  the  fragrance  of  the  vineyard.  I  have  had  here  as 
tender  beefsteaks  as  Delmonico  ever  served,  and  shall 
carry  from  this  Island  lasting  regrets  that  the  Spanish 
do  not  know  how  to  cook  fish.  Fancy  stewing  a  lovely 
silverside,  and  serving  it  with  tomato  sauce  !  Let  me 
say,  before  possibly  forgetting,  a  word  about  olives. 
They  are  small  and  juicy  and  delicate  and  refreshing, 
and  take  the  sting  of  a  cigarette  out  of  one's  mouth  as 
nothing  else  can.  The  taste  for  little  olives  is  one 
very  easily  acquired,  and  the  trouble  is  the  tendency 
to  make  a  meal  of  them  only.  The  Spanish  have  cul- 
tivated the  omelet,  and  ought  to  make  some  compen- 
sation for  spelling  "eggs"  "  egss  "  !  The  "  grumbled 
e-g-s-s  with  onions  "  is  a  dish  that  stands  trial,  and  pre- 
pares the  stomach  for  serious  employment.  And,  oh 
dear,  the  pineapples  !  Honey  in  the  comb  that  melts, 
honey  and  all,  in  the  mouth,  and  is  so  satisfying  one 
wants  to  drop  gently  into  slumber  and  have  visions  of 
the  gardens  of  the  gods !  I  do  not  dare  more  than  hint 
at  the  mangoes  and  mames,  and  a  brown  pod  of  sweet 
cream  that  grows  bigger  than  the  average  orange  on 
bushes,  and  has  a  flavor  that  beats  apple  blossoms 
and  clover  fields.  The  dusky  pod  has  a  skin  so  thin 
that  it  is  peeled  with  a  spoon,  and  then  one  bulb  is 
divided  between  three  tall  glasses — was  the  first  time 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  209 

we  tried  it — crushed  and  watered  until  it  looks  like  ice- 
cream soda  at  Huylers.  Ice  was  added — the  Cubans 
have  delicious  ice — home-made.  A  silver  spoon  with  a 
long  handle  was  inserted,  and.  though  the  month  was 
February,  the  atmosphere  was  August,  and  we  had  val- 
uable thirsts  quenched  by  quaffing  the  milky  flood — 
no  alcohol,  thanks  !  This  fruity  apotheosis  is  fresh  from 
the  "  divine  sky  "  of  Cuba,  that,  Dana  says,  yields  pure 
gold.  I  did  not  think  he  told  the  truth  that  time,  but 
he  did.  And  this  same  vegetable  is  convertible,  at 
night  especially,  into  a  cup  of  blooming  snow,  that  is 
as  vanilla  ice-cream  might  be  if  it  were  translated  and 
frozen  in  heaven. 

I  borrow  this  exquisite  comparison  from  an  account 
Joe  Jefferson  gave  when  he  was  so  young  it  was  a  joke 
to  play  the  part  of  an  old  man,  in  telling  the  ineffable 
heights  to  which  the  favorite  Gulf  of  Mexico  fish,  the 
Pompino,  ascended  in  the  measure  of  merit.  "  The 
Pompino,"  said  Jefferson,  "is  just  the  shad  translated 
and  caught  without  a  hook  in  tJeaven."  But  perhaps 
if  one  sought  to  find  the  limitations  of  the  iridescent 
glories  of  the  fruits  of  the  tropics,  a  hint  of  the  far-off 
line  drawn  upon  the  products  that  are  the  riches  of 
everlasting  summer,  could  be  found  in  the  story  of  Tom 
Corwin,  who  protested  when  a  lady  insisted  upon  pour- 
ing molasses  into  his  coffee,  that  he  feared  she  was 
making  it  "too  sweet."  "Dear  Mr.  Corwin,"  said  she, 
"  if  it  was  all  'lasses,  it  could  not  be  too  sweet  for 
you." 

The  apples  that  grew  in  Ohio  were  good  food  for 
boys ;  and  there  are  those  living  who,  before  the 
Mexican  war,  assisted  the  pigs  in  assimilating  the 
superfluous  crop,  and  kept  their  teeth  white  gnawing 


2IO  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

pippins,  who,  even  under  the  palms  of  Cuba,  have 
grateful  remembrances  of  the  orchards  of  the  Miami 
country. 

The  noisy  streets  of  Havana  are  very  trying.  In  this 
land  of  prodigious  rains  and  a  fierce  sun,  a  pavement 
of  wood  could  hardly  fail  to  be  offensive.  The  wooden 
pavement  does  not  smell  nicely  in  Paris  or  London, 
and  here  the  odor  would  be  alarming.  I  fear  asphalt 
would  become  pulpy.  Turnpikes  in  town,  however 
well  made,  would  increase  the  plague  of  dust.  One 
day  I  had  a  streak  of  luck — was  in  haste — called  a  cab- 
man and  gave  direction  ;  and  lo  !  he  tore  through  the 
rattling  streets  at  a  speed  equal  to  a  jaunting  car  in 
Dublin  when  you  have  treated  and  tipped  the  driver. 
This  is  revolutionary,  and  I  hope  it  will  not  be  noticed 
by  the  authorities.     I  am  told  it  never  happened  before. 

The  business  men  of  this  city  are  bearing  themselves 
bravely  under  very  depressing  circumstances.  Many 
cannot  be  making  expenses,  but  are  holding  on  hope- 
fully, believing  something  will  happen  to  close  the  war 
and  allow  a  return  to  the  conditions  of  prosperity. 

The  day  I  was  wafted  across  the  harbor  in  a  sail-boat, 
"my  winged  boat,  a  bird  afloat,"  and  took  a  cab,  ac- 
companied by  the  administrator  of  the  transportation, 
between  the  ship  and  the  hotel,  the  people  said  it  was 
cold,  and  looked  upon  those  exposed  to  the  inclem- 
ency of  the  weather  with  interest,  The  very  coldest 
group  of  people  I  ever  saw  was  in  Venice,  where  the 
band  played  in  St.  Mark's  Square,  the  festive  Venetians 
out  to  hear  the  icy  music  were  actually  blue,  and 
with  chill  despair  gathered  their  cloaks  around  them 
and  were  as  marble  in  dignity. 

It  was    my  impression    until  now    that  Italy   was   a 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  213 

southern  country  as  well  as  Cuba,  but  there  is  a  differ- 
ence. The  "cold  day  "  in  Havana  I  was  happy  to  be 
able  to  walk  a  few  minutes  without  an  overcoat  and 
not  find  myself  in  a  profuse  perspiration,  but  saw  the 
drivers  of  the  cabs  believed  the  air  dangerously  frigid. 
When  the  Cuban  is  in  trouble  he  generally  gets  it  "in 
the  neck,"  and  he  thinks  a  cold  spell  seizes  mankind  by 
the  throat.  His  protection  from  chills  is  a  scarf  wound 
about  under  the  chin.  It  is  fun  to  see  the  cabman 
muffled  to  the  ears,  his  nose  and  brow  only  visible, 
driving  with  a  hump  in  his  back,  feeling  that  the 
mighty  North  is  taking  liberties  in  the  Land  of  the 
Sun. 

It  is  only  in  exceptional  cases  that  the  Americans 
have  the  advantage  of  the  Cubans  in  the  services  of 
barbers.  We  enjoy  in  Havana  cool  and  spacious  bar- 
ber shops,  with  reclining  chairs,  and  the  barber  is  as 
deliberate,  artistic,  and  courteous  as  anywhere  the 
state  of  one's  hair  is  highly  esteemed.  My  barber 
here  is  almost  the  barber  of  my  soul.  He  is  tall  and 
erect,  with  military  bearing,  and,  when  I  take  his 
chair,  lights  a  cigarette  and  puffs  with  evident  pleas- 
ure while  he  adjusts  a  faultless  towel  and  applies  the 
lather  with  gravity  and  elaboration,  and  I  behold  under 
his  nose  a  spark  and  an  ash,  that  is  momentarily 
expected  to  alight  on  my  nose  !  But  this  apprehension 
has  never  been  justified.  When  the  time  comes  to  han- 
dle the  razor,  the  cigarette  is  removed,  a  long  jet  of  the 
precious  smoke  passes  into  space,  and  the  mowing  ma- 
chine is  so  deftly  applied,  that  where  there  was  a  field 
of  gray  stubble  there  is  soon  a  satin  lawn. 

This  city  has  sentiment  in  it.  The  mules  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  carters  are  decorated  with  colored  tassels  on 


214  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

their  head  harness,  and  apparently  know  they  are 
admired,  even  as  the  gentlemen  in  London  know 
they  are  admirable  when  they  walk  out  with  roses  in 
their  buttonholes. 

The  cathedral  of  Havana  is  in  a  closely  built  quarter 
of  the  city,  with  a  small  granite-paved  square  in  front 
and  narrow  side  streets.  The  front  is  of  venerable  as- 
pect and  imposing  architecture — a  heavy  stone  tower 
on  either  hand — the  inside  is  ornate  and  brilliant.  It  is 
here  the  remains  of  Columbus — his  bones  in  an  urn — 
were  believed  to  have  been  placed,  when  they  were,  if 
the  treaty  was  executed,  removed  from  San  Domingo 
at  the  time  that  Island  was  ceded  to  France.  The  prob- 
ability is  that  they  were  deposited  in  Havana,  and  that 
the  fraud  alleged  to  have  been  perpetrated  by  which 
they  were  retained,  while  other  bones  were  conveyed 
to  meet  the  obligation,  was  itself  a  fraud.  The  bust  of 
Columbus,  in  marble,  on  the  wall  where  the  bones  are 
said  to  be,  and  probably  are,  is  commonplace  and  true 
only  to  the  type  of  men  who  were  early  in  discovery 
and  exploration  of  the  West  Indies.  There  has  been 
laid  inside  the  cathedral  a  ponderous  and  obstructive 
foundation  for  a  monument  to  Columbus,  but  there  will 
be  nothing  lamentable  to  grieve  over  if  it  always  re- 
mains unfinished. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  21  5 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    BRITISH    AND    PROVINCIAL    CONQUEST    OF    CUBA. 

How  the  Island  was  Invaded,  and  Havana  Captured,  After  a  Bloody 
and  Deadly  Siege,  in  the  Summer  of  1762,  by  the  British,  Under 
Lord  Albemarle,  Helped  Just  in  Time  by  a  Force  of  2,300  Men 
from  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  Under  General 
Lyman  and  Colonel  Israel  Putnam,  and  then  Returned  to  the 
Spaniards — Frightful  Losses  of  the  Invaders — Havana  Looted,  and 
a  Prize  Money  Scandal.  The  Greed  of  The  British  Officers — Did 
the  Provincial  Troops  Establish  a  Preemption  Right  to  the  Island  ? 
— Colonial  and  English  Sympathy — Washington's  Brother  in  the 
British  Service  in  the  West  Indies— A  Connecticut  Chaplain's 
Journal  of  the  Plague  at  Havana — Sad  Fate  of  General  Lyman. 

When  we  consider  the  British  capacity  to  possess 
good  land,  and  habit  of  holding  fast  all  they  get,  and 
recall  how  highly  the  West  Indies  were  esteemed  by 
Europeans  in  the  last  century,  and  that  Cuba  was 
worth  all  the  rest  of  the  Archipelago  in  natural  pro- 
ductions and  exhaustless  fertility,  in  commanding  situ- 
ation, military  and  commercial,  and  in  commodious 
harbors,  it  is  the  strangest  of  Cuban  stories  that  this 
priceless  Pearl  of  the  Antilles  should  have  been  the 
spoil  of  one  of  the  greatest  English  expeditions  that 
ever  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  handed  back  to  Spain, 
as  if  with  His  Britannic  Majesty's  festive  compliments, 
as  an  incident  of  a  transaction  not  extraordinary. 

This  happened  fourteen  years  before  our  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  perhaps  the  British  idea  was  their 
American  colonies  possessed  so  much  land  there  was  no 


2l6  .     THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

occasion  for  more.  If  it  had  been  within  English 
statesmanship  to  contemplate  the  grandeur  of  the 
Republic  of  the  United  States,  their  sense  of  pro- 
priety as  the  holders  of  the  soil  would  surely  have 
impressed  them  that  Cuba  should  be  identified  in 
politics  as  in  commerce  with  the  bulk  and  potency  of 
the  continent. 

After  a  struggle  that  was  dangerous,  and  cost  thou- 
sands of  lives,  Havana,  with  about  one-fourth  of  Cuba, 
was  surrendered  to  Lord  Albemarle,  and  if  it  had  been 
the  will  of  the  British  government,  the  whole  Islan-d 
would  have  belonged  to  the  crown.  There  was  a 
diplomatic  quirk,  and  Cuba  was  Spanish  again,  and 
when  our  original  colonies  became  states  and  United 
States,  we  acquired  Florida  and  Louisiana,  and  were 
careless  about  the  land  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Pacific,  until  we  found  the  Mexicans  in  our  way, 
and  were  at  the  expense  of  war  to  regain  Texas  and 
California. 

Froude,  the  British  historian,  delivers  the  judgment 
that  it  was  well  the  British  gave  up  Cuba,  after  her 
fair  conquest,  to  Spain,  because  the  Spaniards  gave 
their  own  blood  to  the  colonies,  and  built  in  Cuba,  not 
light  structures,  but  with  ponderosity,  as  in  the  old 
peninsula,  the  most  effective  method  of  declaring  them- 
selves at  home  and  resolute  upon  permanency. 
In  many  ways  British  sovereignty  in  the  Island  would 
have  changed  our  fortunes.  Almost  positively,  even 
after  the  American  colonies  had  separated  from  the 
mother-country,  and  Rodney  defeated  the  French 
finally  in  the  West  Indies,  it  would  have  been  within  the 
power  and  policy  of  Great  Britain,  had  she  continued 
to  hold  Cuba  as  a  possession,  to  have  captured   New 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  21/ 

Orleans,  and  fenced  us  in  on  the  west  with  the  Missis- 
sippi as  was  done  on  the  north  with  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  Enghsh  must  have  had  a  period  of  modesty,  if 
not  timidity,  for  not  only  was  Rodney  not  acting 
under  urgency  from  home  when  he  won  his  tre- 
mendous victory  over  the  French — his  activity  was 
disapproved,  and  orders  to  be  quiet  were  on  the  way 
when  he  took  the  responsibility  for  an  aggression  that 
gave  his  country  almost  unparalleled  prestige,  compen- 
sating her  largely  for  the  loss  of  the  heart  of  North 
America,  and  winning  for  himself  a  place  among  the 
loftiest  reputations  in  the  history  of  naval  heroes. 

The  same  nerveless  faltering  that  surrendered  Cuba 
was  that  which  sought  to  restrain  Rodney.  If  there 
had  been  the  courage  in  the  conduct  of  imperial  affairs 
in  1762  that  appeared  forty  years  later,  England  might 
have  been  reinforced  in  the  Napoleonic  wars  with 
American  troops,  as  she  was  in  the  great  French  and 
Indian  wars  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  in  the  enterprise,  the  fruit  of  which  was  the  futile 
conquest  of  Cuba,  from  which  the  British  general  and 
admiral  sailed  away  laden  with  booty  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver, and  with  a  fleet  of  Spanish  ships  caught  in  the 
harbor  of  Havana.  This  episode  reads  like  a  romance 
of  piracy,  for  when  the  spoil  was  divided,  and  the  high 
officers  got  their  share,  and  the  dead  were  buried,  the 
great  fleet  departed  and  the  Spaniards  held,  after  all, 
the  Pearl  of  the  Antilles. 

Lord  Albermarle  first  appeared  off  the  coast  of 
Cuba  with  an  enormous  armament — nineteen  ships  of 
the  line  and  six  frigates  and  nearly  two  hundred  trans- 
port and  slave  ships — and  landed  June  17th,  1762.     The 

capture  of  Havana  was  the  object  of  the  expedition, 

C-13 


2l8  THE   STORY   OF  CUBA. 

but  the  resistance  of  the  Spanish  was  resolute  and  the 
cUmate  deadly  to  the  troops  that  had  been  serving 
in  northern  latitudes. 

The  fact  has  not  been  as  prominent  in  our  histories 
as  it  should  have  been  that,  on  the  28th  of  July,  in  the 
midst  of  the  sickly  season,  when  five  thousand  British 
troops  and  three  thousand  sailors  were  sick  and  de- 
spondent, scratching  the  burning  stones  to  throw  up  the 
trenches  from  which  they  were  besieging  the  Moro 
Castle,  suffering  from  the  frightful  heat  and  perishing 
with  thirst,  for  water  was  scarce,  and  there  was  daily  a 
fearful  list  of  deaths — when  there  was  a  dread  appre- 
hension that  the  season  of  hurricanes  was  coming, 
there  arrived  from  New  York  a  welcome  reinforce- 
ment of  twenty-three  hundred  men  under  General 
Lyman  of  Connecticut,  one  thousand  men  from  that 
state,  eight  hundred  from  New  York,  and  five  hun- 
dred from  New  Jersey.  General  Lyman  and  Colonel 
Israel  Putnam  had  been  in  the  Indian  and  French 
wars  together,  and  raised  the  regiment  of  one  thou- 
sand men  in  their  state  that  took  so  decided  a  part  in 
the  Cuban  conquest.  Lyman  was  in  command  of  the 
brigade,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Putnam  was  acting 
colonel  of  the  Connecticut  regiment. 

As  they  approached  the  coast  of  Cuba  there  was  a 
storm,  and  the  ship,  carrying  Putnam's  fortunes  and  five 
hundred  men,  was  driven  on  rocks  about  thirty  miles 
from  Havana  and  totally  lost,  but  owing  to  Yankee 
skill  every  man  was  saved  on  rafts  constructed  of  the 
spars  and  other  timbers  of  the  vessel  lashed  together 
by  harpoon  lines,  of  which  there  was  a  good  stock 
aboard.  It  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  escapes 
in  the   records   of   shipwreck,  and  not   only  were   the 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  219 

Connecticut  men  saved  from  the  rage  of  the  sea,  but 
they  were  not,  when  cast  away  on  a  hostile  shore, 
molested  by  the  Spaniards.  The  whole  force  of  the 
provincial  troops  joined  Lord  Albemarle's  army  in 
good  form,  reporting  in  fine  health  and  zealous  for 
service. 

This  arrival  put  heart  in  the  British  and  discour- 
aged the  Spaniards.  The  work  of  the  siege  was  carried 
on  with  renewed  vigor,  and  on  the  13th  of  August  the 
city  surrendered,  and  the  news  was  most  welcome 
to  the  exhausted  English,  while  the  American  troops 
had  been  stricken  by  sickness  and  were  dying  at  a 
dreadful  rate,  a  single  month's  exposure  having  resulted 
in  a  deplorable  condition  of  the  men,  many  of  whom 
were  already  gone,  killed  in  the  trenches  or  passing 
away  in  the  insufficient  hospitals.  Of  the  fate  of  the 
gallant  provincials,  we  read  in  Trumbull's  "History  of 
Connecticut,"  that  "New  England,  by  her  zeal  in  this 
enterprise,  sustained  a  very  considerable  loss  of  men. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  private  soldiers,  and  but  few  of  the 
officers,  ever  returned.  Such  as  were  not  killed  in  the 
service  were  generally  swept  away  by  the  great  mor- 
tality which  prevailed  in  the  fleet  and  army." 

Trumbull  says  of  the  immense  enterprise  carried  out 
with  such  hardship,  so  costly  and  triumphant  and  so 
easily  squandered  with  facile  imbecility  ; 


Lord  Albemarle  was  appointed  to  command  the  operations  by  land. 
His  lordship  had  been  trained  to  war  from  his  youth,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  The  fleet  destined  for  the  service 
was  under  the  command  of  Admiral  Pocock,  who  had  before  com- 
manded with  such  success  in  the  East  Indies.  The  object  of  the  expe- 
dition was  the  Havana.  In  this  centred  the  whole  trade  and  navigation 
of  the  Spanish  West  Indies.     The  fleet  sailed  from  Portsmouth  on  the 


220  THE  STORY   OF  CUBA. 

5th  of  March.  This  was  to  be  reinforced  by  a  squadron  from  Mar- 
tinique, under  the  command  of  Sir  James  Douglass.  On  the  twenty-sev- 
enth of  May  two  fleets  formed  a  junction  at  Cape  Nichola,  the  northwest 
point  of  Hispaniola.  The  fleet  consisted  of  thirty-seven  ships  of  war, 
with  nearly  an  hundred  and  fifty  transports.  The  land  force  on  board 
was  about  ten  thousand  men.  Four  thousand  regular  troops  from  New 
York  were  ordered  to  join  them  at  the  Havana.  A  considerable  number 
of  provincials  enlisted  under  their  own  officers  and  served  in  this  ardu- 
ous enterprise.  The  whole  land  force,  when  collected,  would  amount 
to  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  thousand  men. 

The  admiral  was  not  insensible  how  much  the  success  of  the  expedi- 
tion depended  on  despatch,  that  it  might  be  carried  into  execution 
before  the  coming  on  of  the  hurricane  months.  Therefore,  instead 
of  keeping  the  common  track  of  the  galleons  to  the  north  of  Cuba 
which  was  much  the  safest,  though  far  the  most  tedious  passage,  he 
determined  to  pursue  his  course  from  east  to  west,  through  the  Straits 
of  Bahama.  This  is  a  narrow  passage,  about  seven  hundred  miles  in 
length.  It  is  bounded  on  the  right  and  left  with  so  many  shoals  and 
sands  that  the  navigation  is  dangerous  for  single  ships.  Yet  such  were 
the  cautions  and  admirable  dispositions  of  the  admiral  that  he  carried 
this  fleet  of  nearly  two  hundred  sail  safely  through  this  perilous  passage. 
On  the  5th  of  June,  Havana,  the  object  of  this  long  voyage,  and  of  so 
many  anxious  hopes  and  fears,  presented  itself  to  the  view  of  the  fleet 
and  army.  On  the  seventeenth  the  troops  were  landed,  and  for  more 
than  two  months  every  exertion  of  courage,  every  art  of  war,  with  the 
most  invincible  patience  and  perseverance,  under  almost  insuperable 
difficulties,  were  unitedly  employed  by  officers  and  soldiers,  by  the 
fleet  and  army,  for  the  reduction  of  this  important  island.  The  fort- 
resses were  strong  by  nature  and  art.  The  enemy  made  a  gallant  and 
noble  defense.  The  climate  was  burning,  and  the  want  of  water  great 
and  almost  insufferably  distressing.  Never  were  British  valor  and  reso- 
lution put  to  a  severer  trial.  Some  of  the  soldiers  dropped  down  dead, 
under  the  pressure  of  heat,  thirst  and  fatigue.  Before  the  middle  of 
July  the  army,  in  this  unwholesome  and  burning  region,  and  under  the 
rigor  of  such  extraordinary  services,  was  reduced  to  half  its  original 
numbers.  Five  thousand  soldiers  and  three  thousand  seamen  were  ill  at 
one  time.  The  hearts  of  the  most  sanguine  sunk  within  them  while  they 
saw  this  fi[ne  army  wasting  by  disease,  and  they  could  not  but  tremble 
for  that  noble  fleet  which  had  so  long  been  exposed  along  the  open 
shore  and  must,  in  all  human  probability,  suffer  inevitable  ruin  should 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  221 

the  hurricane  season  come  on  before  the  reduction  of  the  place.  As  the 
season  advanced  the  prospect  grew  more  and  more  unfavorable.  But 
when  the  troops  were  on  the  point  of  total  despondency  the  arrival  of 
troops  from  North  America  revived  their  drooping  spirits,  gave  fresh 
vigor  to  their  operations,  and  was  of  the  most  signal  service. 

Such  was  the  zeal  of  the  New  Englanders  in  his  majesty's  service, 
that  not  only  many  of  them  enlisted  with  a  particular  view  to  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  Havana:  but  such  of  them  as  had  assisted  in  the  conquest  of 
Martinique,  and  by  reason  of  sickness  had  set  off  in  three  ships  for 
their  native  country  for  their  recovery,  soon  finding  their  health  re- 
stored, ordered  the  ships  about,  and  steering  directly  for  Havana, 
shared  in  the  dangers  and  honors  of  that  glorious  enterprise. 

In  Hollister's  "  History  of  Connecticut  "  we  read  of 
the  conduct  of  Putnam  in  the  shipwreck  scene,  and  the 
fate  of  the  heroes  : 

A  terrible  storm  now  arose,  and  the  transport  that  bore  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Putnam,  with  five  hundred  men,  making  one-half  of  the  Con- 
necticut regiment,  was  driven  on  a  rift  of  craggy  rocks  and  wrecked. 
Thus  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  so  that  he  could  hope  for  no 
aid  from  any  external  source,  the  surf  rolling  mountain  high,  and  dash- 
ing against  the  sides  of  the  ship  with  such  force  that  she  threatened  to 
part  her  timbers  at  every  stroke  of  the  sea,  this  brave  officer,  looking 
calmly  in  the  face  of  death,  maintained,  above  the  noise  of  the  waves,  a 
discipline  that  enabled  him  to  issue  all  his  orders  without  interruption, 
and  secured  an  obedience  to  them  as  perfect  as  if  the  bold-hearted  men 
whom  he  commanded  had  stood  upon  the  ridges  of  their  own  cornfields. 

In  this  appalling  situation  every  man  who  could  wield  a  saw  or  a  ham- 
mer was  employed  in  making  rafts  from  spars,  planks,  and  the  scanty 
and  scattered  materials  that  came  to  hand.  In  this  way  a  part  of  the 
men  were  landed  at  the  great  risk  of  being  drifted-  far  out  into  the  sea. 
After  a  few  of  the  men  had  been  safely  disembarked,  ropes  were  lashed 
to  the  rafts,  and  those  who  had  thus  gained  the  shore,  aided  in  pulling 
their  companions  to  the  beach.  Such  was  the  address  and  caution  ex- 
ercised by  Putnam  in  this  most  critical  of  all  conditions,  that  not  a  man 
was  lost.  Colonel  Putnam  now  pitched  his  camp  and  remained  several 
days  within  twenty-four  miles  of  the  enemy  at  Carthagena.  At  last  the 
storm  abated,  and  the  convoy  soon  after  took  them  aboard  and  carried 
them  to  Havana. 


222  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  climate  proved  fatal  to  a  large  proportion  of  our  soldiers  who 
went  upon  this  expedition.  Of  the  thousand  brave  men  who  sailed  for 
Havana,  and  who  aided  in  reducing  it,  with  all  its  shipping  and  military 
stores,  to  the  dominion  of  the  British  crown,  a  mere  handful  ever  re- 
turned to  lay  their  bones  in  their  native  soil.  A  few  officers,  and  here 
and  there  a  straggling  soldier,  wasted  to  a  skeleton,  were  the  sole  sur- 
vivors of  that  fatal  campaign,  in  which  victory  and  death  went  hand  in 
hand. 

This  historian  HolHster  worthily  celebrates  the  re- 
cord of  the  colony  of  Connecticut  in  the  memorable 
French  and  Spanish  wars,  which  lasted  eight  years, 
when  closed  by  the  peace  of  1773,  saying-  that  during 
those  years  :  "  The  sons  of  the  colony  had  found  their 
graves  in  every  part  of  the  continent,  and  had  been 
laid  to  rest  beneath  the  waters  of  the  West  Indian  seas. 
No  colony,  in  proportion  to  her  population,  had  fur- 
nished an  equal  number  of  men.  Again  and  again  she 
had  sent  into  the  field  a  duplicate  supply  of  troops  be- 
yond those  demanded  of  her,  to  make  up  for  the  defic- 
iency that  she  had  but  too  good  reason  to  think  would 
exist  in  some  of  those  provinces  less  embued  with  the 
spirit  of  liberty  and  less  devoted  to  the  cause  of  human- 
ity. She  had  also  paid  out  of  her  own  treasury,  after 
deducting  the  pittance  that  she  had  received  from  par- 
liament, more  than  four  hundred  thousand  pounds — far 
surpassing,  according  to  her  wealth,  the  amount  paid 
by  any  other  of  the  colonies ;  and  the  exploits  of  her 
gallant  officers — her  Lymans,  her  Whitings,  her  Par- 
sons, her  Dyers,  her  Spencers,  her  Hinmans,  her  Coits, 
her  Fitches,  her  Durkees,  her  Woosters,  her  Putnams, 
and  her  Wolcotts — were  as  glorious  as  their  fame  will 
be  immortal." 

C.  C.  Hazewell  says,  in  his  paper  on  the  "Conquest  of 
Cuba,"  contributed  to  an  early  number  of  the  Atlantic 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  223 

Magazine :  "  Of  the  many  conquests  which  were 
made  by  the  EngHsh  in  the  Seven  Years'  War,  no 
one  was  more  remarkable  than  that  which  placed 
Havana  and  its  neighborhood  in  their  hands,  virtually 
giving  them  possession  of  the  Island  of  Cuba ;  and 
the  manner  in  which  they  disposed  of  their  mag- 
nificent prize,  when  George  III.  forced  peace  upon 
his  unwilling  subjects,  was  among  the  causes  of 
their  failure  to  conquer  the  Thirteen  States  in  the 
War  for  Independence."  It  is  related  that  among  the 
laborers  of  the  English  "  were  five  hundred  black 
slaves,  purchased,  for  the  use  of  the  expedition,  at  An- 
tigua and  Martinique."  This  was,  of  course,  along  time 
before  the  English  developed  their  talent  in  abolishing 
slavery.  The  English  fleet  attempted  to  support  the 
siege  of  the  Moro,  but  "  were  roughly  received  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  men, 
besides  being  greatly  damaged  in  hull,  masts,  and  rig- 
ging, so  that  they  were  forced  to  abandon  the  conflict 
without  having  made  any  impression  on  the  fortress, 
though  they  had  effected  an  important  diversion  in 
favor  of  the  land  batteries."  The  Spaniards  made  one 
desperate  sally,  and  if  they  had  succeeded,  the  siege 
would  have  been  abandoned  ;  but  they  were  beaten 
back  with  heavy  loss,  and  "  in  this  action  a  battalion 
of  North  Americans  bore  a  prominent  part,  aiding  to 
drive  the  first  Spanish  column  to  the  water,  where  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  were  drowned." 

The  commander  of  the  Moro,  when  the  castle  was 
stormed — an  operation  which  cost  the  English  but  two 
officers  and  thirty  men — refused  to  retreat,  and  was 
mortally  wounded.  The  Spaniards  lost  on  the  spot  530 
men  besides  the  drowned,  and  the  English  turned  their 


224  ^'^^   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

batteries  upon  the  city  and  pounded  it  with  forty-five 
guns.  When  it  was  surrendered,  besides  "  Havana 
and  its  immediate  territory,  the  terms  of  the  surrender 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Enghsh  as  much  of  the  Island 
of  Cuba  as  extended  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  to 
the  west,  which  belonged  to  the  government  of  the 
place.  This  was  a  great  conquest,  and  it  was  in  the 
power  of  the  conquerors  to  become  masters  of  the 
whole  Island." 

The  news  of  the  capture  of  Havana  reached  Phila- 
delphia in  fourteen  days,  and  was  published  in  the 
Boston  Gazette,  September  13th,  with  the  concluding 
statement  that  the  spoil  amounted  to  "fourteen  million 
milled  dollars." 

The  victory  was  celebrated  all  over  New  England, 
and  throughout  the  colonies  great  pride  was  taken  in 
belonging  to  the  conquering  nation.  Hazewell  says  of 
the  Canadian  conquest :  "  It  is  certain  that  those  vic- 
tories had  greatly  exalted  the  American  heart  ;  and  now 
that  they  were  followed  by  the  conquest  of  Cuba,  made 
at  the  expense  of  a  great  nation  with  which  England 
was  at  peace  when  Quebec  and  Montreal  had  passed 
into  her  possession,  it  is  not  strange  that  our  ancestors 
should  have  become  more  impressed  than  ever  with  the 
honor  of  belonging  to  the  British  empire.  They  were 
not  only  loyal,  but  they  were  loyal  to  a  point  that 
resembled  fanaticism." 

The  Boston  Gazette  states  that  one  of  the  captured 
Spanish  ships  had  five  million  dollars  on  board,  that 
almost  forty  million  dollars  in  specie  had  already  been 
counted,  and  that  the  share  of  Lord  Albemarle  would 
give  him  an  income  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  per 
annum,    and    Admiral    Pocock  was  to  have  an  equal 


AI^PHONSK  XIII,  KING  OF  SPAIN 


^^l.^^^ 


OF  THE 


VERSITT 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  2 27 

amount ;  and  this  was  only  an  exaggeration.  Gov.  Ber- 
nard of  Massachusetts,  at  the  request  of  the  assembly, 
issued  a  proclamation  for  a  public  thanksgiving  on  the 
7th  of  October.  After  enumerating  various  causes  for 
thankfulness  that  existed,  all  of  which  related  to  victor- 
ies won  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  his  excellency 
proceeded  to  say  :  "  But  above  all,  with  hearts  full  of  grat- 
itude and  amazement,  we  must  contemplate  the  glori- 
ous and  important  conquest  of  the  Havana,  which, 
considering  the  strength  of  the  place,  the  resolution  of 
the  defendants  and  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate, 
seems  to  have  the  visible  hand  of  God  in  it,  and  to  be 
designed  by  His  Providence  to  punish  the  pride  and 
injustice  of  that  prince  who  has  so  unnecessarily  made 
himself  a  party  in  this  war." 

The  great  British  officers  took  the  spoil,  giving  the 
soldiers  and  inferior  officers  but  little,  and  in  the  division, 
these  figures  showing  the  relations  of  rank  to  gold  as 
well  as  glory,  but  not  in  the  sense  that  Burns  wrote  : 
"  The  rank  is  but  the  guinea's  stamp  ;  the  man's  the 
gold,"  etc. 

Sir  George  Pocock  was  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  Lord  Albe- 
marle, and  Commodore  Keppel  with  Lieutenant-General  Elliot  ;  the 
shares  of  the  two  former  having  amounted  to  ^122,697  los.  6d.  each, 
and  of  those  of  each  of  the  two  seconds  in  command  ^24,539  los.  id. 
The  spoil  was  in  fact  equally  divided  between  the  two  services,  having 
amounted  altogether  to  ^736,185  3s.,  or  ^368,092  iis.  6d.  each.  But 
although  the  services  and  chiefs  were  placed  on  an  equality,  the  same 
rule  could  not  be  observed  with  the  officers  and  privates.  The  share  of 
a  major-general  was  ^^6,816  10s.  6}^d.,  that  of  a  brigadier-general, 
;^i,947,  IIS.  7d.;  that  of  an  officer  of  the  staff,  £,1^^  14s.  6d.;  that  of 
a  captain,  ;^i84  4s.  7^d.;  that  of  a  subaltern  ^116  3s.  ]/i^.\  that  of 
a  sergeant  £%  i8s.  8d;  that  of  a  corporal  £6  i6s.  6d.,  and  that  of  a 
private  soldier,  £^  is.  8^d.     The  share  of  a  captain  in  the  navy  was 


228  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

;j£'i,6oo  los.  lod.;  of  a  lieutenant  £,2^^  13s.  3^d.;  of  the  other  com- 
missioned ofificers,  p^ii8  5s.  ii^^^d.;  of  warrant  officers,  ;j^i 7  5s.  3d., 
and  of  ordinary  seamen,  jQi  14s.  9^d. 

Hazevvell  says  of  the  bad  bargain  England  made  in 
the  treaty  by  which  she  gave  up  Cuba  : 

She  had  obtained  Florida,  which  was  of  no  worth  to  her,  and  she  had 
given  up  the  Havana,  which  might  have  been  made  one  of  her  most  use- 
ful acquisitions.  That  place  became  the  chief  American  port  of  the 
great  alliance  that  was  formed  against  England  after  she  had  become 
committed  to  war  with  the  new  United  States.  Great  fleets  and  armies 
were  there  assembled,  which  did  the  English  much  mischief.  Florida 
was  reconquered  by  an  expedition  from  the  Havana,  and  another  expe- 
dition was  successful  in  an  attack  on  Nassau;  and  Jamaica  was  threat- 
ened. Had  England  not  given  up  the  place  to  the  Spaniards,  not  only 
would  these  things  have  been  impossible,  but  she  might  have  employed 
it  with  effect  in  her  own  military  operations,  and  have  maintained  her 
ascendency  in  the  West-Indian  seas.  Or,  if  she  had  preferred  that 
course,  she  might  have  made  it  the  price  of  Spain's  neutrality  during  the 
American  war,  returning  it  to  her  on  condition  that  she  should  not  assist 
the  United  States;  and  as  the  Family  Compact  then  existed  in  all  its 
force,  Spain's  influence  might  have  been  found  sufficiently  powerful  to 
prevent  France  from  giving  that  assistance  to  our  fathers  which  un- 
doubtedly secured  their  independence.  All  subsequent  history  has  been 
deeply  colored  by  the  surrender  of  the  Havana  in  1763.  But  for  that, 
Washington  and  his  associates  might  have  failed.  But  for  that,  the 
French  Revolution  might  have  been  postponed,  as  that  revolution  was 
precipitated  through  the  existewce  of  financial  difficulties  which  were 
largely  owing  to  the  part  France  took  in  the  war  that  ended  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  our  nationality.  But  for  that,  England  might  have  secured 
and  consolidated  her  American  dominion,  and  the  House  of  Hanover  at 
this  moment  been  ruling  over  the  present  United  States, 

The  most  thorough  account  of  the  conquest  of  Cuba 
by  the  Enghsh  and  Americans  is  that  of  Thomas  Mante, 
pubhshed  in  London  in  1772 — a  chapter  of  "  The  His- 
tory, of   the   Late  War   in   America."     The   historian, 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


229 


Mante  appreciated  the  dignity  of  his  subject,  and  calls 
Havana  the  key  of  the  riches  of  Mexico.  The  army 
was  to  be  composed  of  15,000  men,  only  4,000  to  go 
from  England,  8,000  were  already  in  the  Indies,  and  the 
rest  were  to  be  supplied  from  North  America.  On 
riving  at  Cuba  the  British  fleet  mustered  : 


ar- 


SHIPS   OF  THE   LINE.  GUNS.       CAPTAINS. 

Namur.  . ; go Harrison. 

Valiant 74-  •  •  .Duncan, 

Culloden 74-  •  •  •  Barker. 

Pembrolce 60.  .  .  .Wheelock. 

Orford 66 Arbuthnot. 

Temeraire 74  ■  •  •  •  Barton. 

Rippon 60. . .  .  Jekel. 

Marlborough 68. . .  .Burnett. 

Belleisle 64.  . .  . Knight. 

Dragon 74. .  .  .Hervey. 

Centuar 74-  •  •  .Lampriere. 

Edgar 60. .  .  .Drake. 

Alcide 64.  .  .  .Hankerson. 

Devonshire 66 Marshall. 

Defiance 60. . .  .M'Kenzie. 

Dublin 74.  .  .  .Gascoigne. 

Cambridge 80. . .  .Goosetree. 

Hampton-Court 64.  . .  .Innis. 

Stirling-Castle 64 Campbell. 

Temple 70.  .  .  .Legge. 

Nottingham. 60 ...  .  Collingvvood. 

Intrepid 60 Hale. 


FRIGATES.  CAPTAINS. 

Sutherland Everett. 

Thunder 

Lizard Bankes. 

Mercury Goodall 

Glasgow Douglas. 

Grenado 

Trent Lindlay. 

Cerebus Webber. 

Alarm Almes. 

Dover Ogle. 

Richmond Elphinstone. 

Ferrett 

Bonetta 

Basilisk 

Echo Lend  rick. 

Lurcher 

Enterprise Holton. 

Porcupine 

Cygnet Napier. 

Peggy 


The  following  regiments  composed  the  army  : 


FROM    ENGLAND, 

gth,  Whitmore's 977 

34th,   Lord  Frederic  Cavendish 976 

56th,  Major-General   Keppel 933 

72d,  Duke  of  Richmond 986 

Volunteers 217 

Royal  Artillery 270 

Brigade  of  Engineers 6 


4.365 


cfthe-        '    • 


230  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


FROM    NORTH    AMERICA. 


15th,  Amherst's 243 

17th,  Monckton's 535 

27th,   Blakeney's 536 

28th,  Townsend's 3^8 

35th,  Ot way's 471 

40th,  Armiger's : 380 

42nd,  Second  Battalion  Royal  Highlanders 484 

43d,  Talbot's • 380 

48th,  Webb's 525 

60th,  Third  Battalion  Royal  Americans 587 

Royal  Artillery 107 

Brigade  Engineers g 

—  5.3S2 

From  England  and  North  America 9,747 

FROM    SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

1st    Regiment  (four  companies) 320 

77th,  Montgomery's 605 

95th,   Burton's 585 

I. 510 

FROM    DOMINICA. 

22nd 602 

94th,  Vaughan's 387 


989 


FROM    GUADALOUPE. 


685 
289 


4th,    225 

65th,  Malpass 104 

looth,   Campbell's 356 

FROM    ANTIGUA. 
38th,  Watson's 289 

FROM     BELLEISLE. 

69th,   Colville's 556 

76th,  Two  Battalions,  Rufane 1048 

90th,  Morgan's 465 

98th,  Grey's , 370 

2,439 


Total 1 5,659 

Out  of  the  above  troops,  Lord  Albemarle,  besides  leaving  some 
sick  at  Martinique,  garrisoned  it  with 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  23  I 

The  69th 556 

76th 1.048 

And  St.  Lucia,  Dominica,  Grenada,  and  the  Grenadillas  with  the 

38th 289 

94th 387 

98th 370 

looth 356 

4,308 

So  that  there  remained  for  the  Havana  expedition  but 11.351 

The  whole  fleet  consisted  of : 

Ships  of  the  line 23 

Frigates,  bomb-ketches,  fire-ships,  and  their  tenders 24 

Transport  ships,  with  troops  on  board 93 

Artillery  ships. 16 

Hospital  ships 8 

Provision  ships 24 

Ships  with  fascines 4 

Ships  with   negroes 2 

Ships  with   horses 3 

Ships  with  the  baggage  of  general  officers 6 

Total 203 

The  governor  of  Jamaica  had  been  ordered  to  raise 
2,000  •'  stout  negroes  "  for  laborers,  and  500  "  negroes 
accustomed  to  arms,"  but  Lord  Albemarle  feared  de- 
lay, and  "  prudently  gave  orders,  at  all  events,  for  the 
purchasing  of  800  or  1,000  negroes  at  Martinique,  bi. 
Christopher's,   and  Antigua." 

The  Spaniards  got  together  nearly  30,000  men,  and 
their  fleet  continued  at  anchor  in  the  harbor. 

The  siege  of  the  Moro  was  one  of  the  severest  strug- 
gles in  modern  warfare — the  Spaniards  fought  in  first- 
class  style,  and  gave  the  British  gun  for  gun.  When  the 
work  was  hardest  and  the  fight  hottest,  there  arrived  a 
reinforcement,  white  and  black,  gratefully  received  from 
Jamaica ;  but  we  quote  the  English  historian  : 


232  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

A  much  more  useful  fleet  was  expected  from  North  America  with  a 
reinforcement  of  men  and  stores  ;  and  accordingly  a  thousand  impatient 
and  languishing  looks  were  cast  out  for  it ;  but  all  in  vain  ;  not  one  ship 
of  it  yet  appeared.  Notwithstanding,  such  was  the  spirit  of  the  men  and 
the  ardor  of  the  officers,  that  twenty  guns  were  mounted  by  the  i6th. 
But  in  order  to  account  for  the  rapid  erection  of  these  works,  we  must 
inform  the  reader  that  all  the  artillery,  ammunition,  and  stores,  being 
ready  on  shore,  were  now  carried  by  a  reinforcement  of  fifteen  hundred 
negroes,  which  had  arrived  from  Jamaica,  whose  legislature  behaved  on 
this  occasion  in  a  manner  that  does  them  infinite  honor.  Though  the  or- 
dinary price  of  labor  there  was  fifteen  pence  sterling  a  day,  these  negroes 
were  furnished  for  the  use  of  government,  at  the  moderate  rate  of  five 
pence  sterling. 

The  Spaniards  made  a  brave  sally  for  the  relief  of  the 
Moro  and  failed,  and  the  English  had  new  hopes,  and 
these  hopes  "  became  more  lively  by  the  arrival,  on  the 
27th  of  July,  of  part  of  the  long  expected  reinforce- 
ment from  North  America,  under  Brigadier  Burton, 
which  had  sailed  from  New  York  on  the  nth  of  June." 
The  fall  of  Havana  was  on  the  13th  of  August,  and 
the  Spanish  fleet  surrendered  by  the  capitulation  com- 
prised the  following  ships  of  war: 

El  Tigre, of  70  guns  commanded  by  the  Marquis  del 

Real  Transporte,  Admiral  and  Commander-in-chief. 

L' America, 60 

^'  Infanta 70 

El  Soverano 70 

La  Reyna 70 

El  Aquilon 70 

El  Conquestador 60 

El  Santo  Antonio 60  |  ^   »,  ,     ,  ,     ,        .  ^^^    . 

_,  „           ^     .  ,     f  tioth  newly  launched  and  fitted  out. 

EI  banto  Geniare 60  ) 

La  Thetis 18  1 

La  Vanganza 22  }  '^f^''  ^y  ^^^  ^^^''^^ 

El  Marte 18     Taken  at  Mariel  by  the  Defiance. 

El  Neptune 70"] 

El  Asia 60  f  Sunk  in  the  entrance  of  the  harbor. 

La  Europa 60  J 

One  of 80)^    ,,       .     , 

^        ,  >•  On  the  stocks. 

One  of 60  ) 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  233 

And  besides,  one  royal  company's  ship  was  taken,  one 
sunk,  and  a  third  burnt.     Mante  remarks  : 

In  the  acquisition  of  the  Havana  were  combined  all  the  advantages 
that  could  be  procured  in  war.  It  was  a  military  victory  of  the  first 
magnitude;  it  was  equal  to  the  greatest  naval  victory  by  its  effects  on 
the  marine  of  the  Spaniards,  who  lost  on  that  occasion  a  whole  fleet. 
The  vast  quantity  of  tobacco  and  sugar  collected  at  the  Havana  on  the 
Spanish  monarch's  account,  sold  on  the  spot,  exclusive  of  the  ships  and 
merchandise  sent  to,  and  sold  in  England,  for  seven  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  which  was  divided  amongst  the  conquerors. 

Though  a  great  part  of  the  provisions  brought  from  England  had  been 
spoiled  by  the  heat  of  the  climate,  the  most  distressing  circumstances  of 
the  campaign  was  the  scarcity  of  water.  Of  the  vast  catalogue  of  human 
ills,  thirst  is  the  most  intolerable.  On  this  occasion  it  soon  caused  the 
tongue  to  swell,  extend  itself  without  the  lips,  and  become  black  as  in  a 
state  of  mortification;  then  the  whole  frame  became  a  prey  to  the  most 
excruciating  agonies,  till  death  at  length  intervened  and  gave  the  un- 
happy sufferer  relief.  In  this  way  hundreds  resigned  themselves  to 
eternity.  A  greater  number  fell  victims  to  a  putrid  fever.  From  the 
appearance  of  perfect  health,  three  of  four  short  hours  robbed  them  of 
existence.  Many  there  were  who  endured  a  loathsome  disease  for  days, 
nay  weeks  together,  living  in  a  state  of  putrefaction,  their  bodies  full  of 
vermin,  and  almost  eaten  away  before  the  spark  of  life  was  extinguished. 
The  carrion  crows  of  the  country  kept  constantly  hovering  over  the 
graves  which  rather  hid  than  buried  the  dead,  and  frequently  scratched 
away  the  scanty  earth,  leaving  in  every  mangled  corpse  a  spectacle  of 
unspeakable  loathsomeness  and  terror  to  those  who,  by  being  engaged 
in  the  same  enterprise,  were  exposed  to  the  same  fate.  Hundreds  of 
carcases  were  seen  floating  on  the  ocean. 

The  Earl  of  Albemarle  being  expressly  ordered  when  the  Havana 
service  should  be  over  to  return  the  same  number  of  troops  to  North 
America  that  he  might  receive  from  thence,  he  embarked  the  fifth  bri- 
gade for  that  continent;  but  most  of  them  died  in  the  passage  or  in  the 
hospitals  immediately  on  their  arrival;  and  the  artillery  sent  with  them 
was  entirely  lost  at  sea.  The  troops  which  remained  were  not  much  more 
fortunate,  being  by  this  time  so  reduced  by  sickness  that  even  seven  hun- 
dred could  not  be  mustered  in  a  condition  to  do  duty. 


2  34  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA, 

It  was  a  great  victory — an  awful  sum  of  wretched- 
ness. Thousands  of  young  men  perished,  and  the 
Island  was  tossed  over  to  Spain  as  though  it  had  not 
on  it  the  costly  stain  of  the  English  and  American 
blood — shed  there,  it  seemed,  for  prize  money  only. 

The  lowest  estimate  of  the  plunder  of  Havana  is  $14,- 
000,000,  but  the  poor  men  got  a  lean  share  and  the  great 
chiefs  were  enriched.  Colonel  Cleveland,  who  com- 
manded the  artillery,  selected  the  church  bells  for  an 
item  of  plunder,  and  the  bishop  protested  to  Albemarle, 
who  replied  that,  "when  a  city  was  besieged  and  taken, 
the  commander  of  the  artillery  receives  a  gratification, 
and  that  Colonel  Cleveland  had  made  the  demand  with 
his  lordship's  concurrence." 

The  bishop  offered  to  redeem  the  bells  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  colonel  named  thirty  thousand  as  his 
price — but  Albemarle  thought  ten  thousand  would  do 
— and  the  bells  were  ordered  taken  down.  Then  the 
bishop  paid  the  "  gratification,"  and  the  bells  still  are 
ringing.  Albemarle  concluded  he  wanted  more  money 
and  wrote  this  polite  note  to  the  venerable  bishop  : 

Most  Illustrious  Sir: — I  am  sorry  to  be  under  the  necessity  of 
writing  to  your  lordship  what  ought  to  have  been  thought  of  some  days 
ago,  namely,  a  donation  from  the  church  to  the  commander-in-chief  of 
the  victorious  army.  The  least  that  your  lordship  can  offer  will  be  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  I  wish  to  live  in  peace  with  your  lordship 
and  with  the  church,  as  I  have  shown  in  all  that  has  hitherto  occured, 
and  I  hope  that  your  lordship  will  not  give  me  reason  to  alter  my  inten- 
tions.    I  kiss  your  lordship's  hand.     Your  humble  servant, 

Albemarle. 

As  the  bishop  could  not  pay,  and  threatened  appeal 
to  the  courts  of  England,  Albemarle  issued  a  proclama- 
tion declaring  "  that  the  conduct  of  the  bishop  was  se- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  235- 

ditious ;  that  he  had  forgotten  that  he  was  now  a  sub- 
ject of  Great  Britain  ;  and  that  it  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary he  should  be  expelled  from  the  Island,  and  sent  to 
Florida  in  one  of  the  British  ships  of  war,  in  order  that 
tranquillity  might  be  maintained,  and  that  good  corres- 
pondence and  harmony  might  continue  between  the 
new  and  the  old  subjects  of  the  king,  which  the  conduct 
of  the  bishop  had  visibly  interrupted."  Many  remem- 
ber Albemarle  in  Havana  well,  and  hate  him  yet.  He 
not  only  had  a  monstrous  appetite  for  money — he  so  mis- 
used a  church — made  a  stable  of  it,  the  Spaniards  say, 
that  it  was  so  defiled  it  has  never  been  reconsecrated. 
It  it  is  a  solemn  stone  affair — with  a  grim  steeple  that 
was  thought  a  few  years  ago  to  be  leaning  and  danger- 
ous, but  it  bore  itself  so  stiffly  it  could  not  be  pulled 
down,  and  the  conclusion  was  it  must  be  perpendicular  ; 
and  so  it  stands  and  is  regarded  as  a  monument  of  the 
English  occupation  that  should  be  a  reproach  to  any 
people. 

There  is  no  episode  of  our  colonial  history  more  im- 
pressive as  showing  the  martial  and  adventurous  char- 
acter of  the  people,  and  their  union  with  the  English  in 
national  spirit  and  sympathy,  than  the  important  part 
they  took,  with  hearty  good  will  and  cheer,  in  their 
most  timely  and  powerful  reinforcement  of  the  Havana 
expedition,  that  culminated  in  a  glorious  feat  of  arms, 
but  terminated  in  a  prize-money  scandal,  and  an  out- 
break of  frightfully  fatal  disease,  and  the  ridiculous, 
uncalled-for  resubmission  of  the  inestimable  Island  to 
Spain  with  a  long  train,  not  yet  ended,  of  lamentable 
consequences.  Unfortunately  the  records  are  so  imper- 
fect that  the  story  can  only  be  presented  in  fragments. 

We  have  much  pleasure  in  recognizing  the  success  of 

C — 14 


236  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  New  York  Branch  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars 
in  collecting  and  making  available  the  scanty  but 
precious  material.  There  are  abundant  documents 
comparatively  of  the  revolutionary  times,  but  the  pres- 
entation of  such  papers  as  exist  relating  to  military 
matters  for  the  colonial  period,  while  intelligently  at- 
tempted, was  rather  due  to  fortunate  accidents  than  to 
systematic  effort. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Historical  Docu- 
ments of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  on  the  part  the 
colonies  took  in  the  expeditions  against  the  Spanish, 
1 740-1 742,  published  in  the  Society's  Year  Book  of 
1894,  and  addressed  to  the  general  court  of  the  Society 
of  Colonial  Wars  in  the  state  of  New  York,  is  valuable 
for  showing  the  steadiness  with  which  the  colonies 
were  relied  upon  to  aid  the  English  in  establishing 
themselves  in  the  West  Indies.  The  report  on  histor- 
ical documents  opens  with  the  statement  that  there 
was  an  effort  made  to  prepare  a  muster-roll  of  the  col- 
onial troops,  but  "after  a  good  deal  of  investigation  into 
the  public  records  of  the  several  states  of  Virginia, 
Maryland,  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  New 
York,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts, 
and  after  communicating  with  a  number  of  officials  and 
gentlemen  of  learning  in  these  states,  your  committee 
is  unable  to  prepare  a  complete  muster-roll." 

A  requisition  was  made  by  George  II.,  in  the  thir- 
teenth year  of  his  reign,  upon  all  the  colonies  north  of 
Carolina,  to  send  four  battalions  to  assist  the  expedition 
against  Cartagena  under  Admiral  Vernon. 

At  a  general  assembly  held  at  Williamsburg,  August 
I,  1740,  an  act  was  passed  directing  the  treasurer  of  the 
colony  to  pay    Lieutenant-Governor   William    Gooch, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  23/ 

Esq..  five  thousand  pounds,  to  be  applied  towards  pro- 
viding victuals,  transports,  and  other  necessaries  for 
the  soldiers  raised  in  the  colony  for  service  in  the 
Spanish  war  (5  Hening's  "Statutes  at  Large,"  page  121). 

"The  act  recites  that  his  most  sacred  Majesty  (George 
II.),  for  vindicating  the  honor  of  his  crown,  for  secur- 
ing the  trade  and  commerce  of  his  subjects,  and  for 
revenging  the  cruelties,  depredations  and  insults  com- 
mitted by  the  subjects  of  Spain  upon  those  of  Great 
Britain,  thought  it  necessary  to  enter  into  a  war  with 
Spain." 

The  result  was  his  majesty  wanted  help  and  "rec- 
ommended and  required  of  his  good  subjects  "  to  pro- 
vide certain  expenses.     The  committee  report : 

There  is  little  doubt  that  at  least  three  companies 
were  formally  enrolled  from  Virginia,  for  it  appears  in 
the  Executive  Journal  under  date  of  August  6,  1740, 
that  the  following  were  commissioned : 

Captains  : 
Lawrence  Washington,        Charles  Walker,        Richard  Bushrod. 

Lieutenants : 
Francis  Moss,       Bellony,       Lewis  Browne. 

Ensigns  : 
William  Fitzhugh,       Hugh  Ross,       Young,  Pilot 

Under  date  of  May  31,  1740,  there  is  an  entry  in  the 
Executive  Journal  of  an  estimate  of  "three  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  of  shipping  required  to  transport  men 
that  have  or  shall  be  raised  in  this  colony  for  his 
majesty's  service." 

It  is  well  known  that  Lawrence  Washington  actually 
served  in  this  expedition.     The  "Magazine  of  Ameri- 


238  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

can  History,"  Vol.  II.,  page  436,  N.  Y.,  1878,  has  a  let- 
ter from  him,  written  from  Jamaica,  1741. 

Lawrence  Washington  was  a  brother  of  George 
Washington,  and  Mount  Vernon,  that  was  inherited 
by  George,  was  named  by  Lawrence  after  his  old  friend 
and  companion  in  arms,  Admiral  Vernon,  who  had 
charge  of  the  expedition. 

The  destruction  by  fire  of  the  capitol  building  at 
Richmond  destroyed  the  rolls,  but  there  are  hopes  that 
copies  may  be  found  in  the  foreign  office,  London. 

The  only  New  York  muster-roll  is  this  of  a  company 
raised  in  New  Rochelle  : 

Captain  : 
Anthony  Lispenard. 

Lieutenant : 
Will  Le  Conte. 

Ensign  : 
Joseph  Pell. 

Privates  : 
Joseph  Donaldson,  James  Cambey, 

Thomas  Bolt,  Nicholas  Vallet, 

Robert  Clement,  Darius  Lunt, 

John  Constant,  Jr.,  John  James  Pilliond, 

William  Bridges. 

The  prominence  of  Connecticut  in  the  Havana  ex- 
pedition, 1762,  has  been  apparent,  and  by  the  courtesy 
of  the  Historical  Committee  we  have  the  advantage  of 
using  the  advance  sheets  of  the  Society  of  the  Colonial 
Wars'  1895  Year  Book,  a  valuable  publication.  The 
Journal  of  a  chaplain  with  the  expedition  has  the  fol- 
lowing title  page : 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  239 

"  Extracts  from  the  Journal  of  the  Reverend  John 
Graham,  Chaplain  of  the  First  Connecticut  Regiment, 
Colonel  Lyman,  from  September  25th  to  October  19th, 
1762,  at  the  Siege  of  Havana.  Printed  by  Order  of  the 
Fourth  General  Court  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  Office  of  the  Society,  37 
Liberty  Street,  New  York,  1896." 

Committee  on  Historical  Documents  : 

Edward  F,  DeLancey,  Gouverneur  M.  Smith,  M.  D., 

William  G,  Ver  Planck,  Abraham  B.  Valentine, 

Charles  Isham,  Secretary. 

The  Journal  is  introduced  with  this  note : 

This  Journal  gives,  with  the  fervid  and  formal  religious  language  of  a 
Connecticut  Congregational  clergyman  of  the  last  century,  vivid  state- 
ments of  the  sufferings  of  the  British  army,  regulars  and  provincials,  at 
the  siege  of  Havana  in  1762.  It  also  contains  valuable  statements  of 
the  numbers  of  the  British  regiments,  and  the  names  of  the  provincial 
troops,  and  the  names  and  strength  of  the  men-of-war  engaged  in  the 
reduction  of  that  strong  Spanish  city;  facts  that  are  difficult  to  obtain, 
except  in  large  public  libraries. 

The  Rev.  John  Graham,  who  was  born  in  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  in 
1722,  and  who  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1740,  was  of  the  same 
name  and  profession  as  his  father.  The  elder  Rev.  John  Graham, 
M.A.,  received  his  degree  from  the  University  of  Glasgow.  He  emi- 
grated to  Boston  in  17 18,  and  married,  first,  Abigail,  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Chauncey.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  John,  junior,  he  was  settled  at 
Exeter,  but  removed  later  to  Stafford,  Conn.,  and  was  subsequently 
ordained  minister  over  the  Church  in  Woodbury,  Conn.,  where  he 
remained  forty-two  years — until  his  death. 

The  son  was,  in  1746,  minister  of  the  West  Parish  of  Suffield,  then  in 
Massachusetts,  but  since  1752  in  Connecticut,  and  practiced  medicine, 
as  well  as  administering  the  affairs  of  his  congregation. 

In  1 76 1  he  accompanied  the  expedition  against  Havana,  in  the  capac- 
ity of  chaplain  to  the  provincial  forces,  under  General  Phineas  Lyman 


240  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

of  Connecticut,  an  intimate  friend  of  the  Graham  family.  The  Con- 
necticut Brigade  of  twenty-three  hundred  men  joined  the  regular 
troops  and  other  provincials  at  Staten  Island,  whence  the  expedition 
sailed  on  the  i8th  of  November,  1761.  The  combined  forces,  having 
captured  Martinique  on  February  14th,  and  Havana  on  August  13th, 
1762,  succumbed  to  an  epidemic  of  fever,  by  far  the  deadliest  foe  they 
had  encountered.  The  Journal  of  Graham,  although  fragmentary,  gives 
a  vivid  picture  of  the  sufferings  of  these  victors,  and  of  their  anxiety  to 
relinquish  their  conquest. 

The  author  was  not  always  careful  to  write  himself  juinor,  hence  there 
might  be  difificulty  in  identifying  him  as  the  chaplain,  since  his  father 
had  already  served  with  Lyman  in  the  operations  against  Crown  Point. 
Allusions,  however,  in  the  Journal  to  his  children.  Love  and  Narcissus, 
appear  to  settle  this  question  beyond  a  doubt.  The  Rev.  John  Gra- 
ham, Jr.,  like  his  father,  was  twice  married,  the  girl  and  boy  he  men- 
tions being  children  by  his  first  wife,  Mary  Sheldon. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  he  was  an  ardent  Whig,  and  so 
continued  to  the  end.     He  died  in  1790. 

Notices  of  the  Grahams  may  be  found  in  Spagu6s'  *'  Annals  of  the 
Pulpit,"  and  in  Dexter's  "  Yale  Biographies;  "  also  in  Cothren's  "History 
of  Ancient  Woodbury." 

Many  of  the  manuscripts  and  letters  of  the  family  were  in  the  posses- 
sion or  the  late  John  Lorrimer  Graham,  of  Flushing,  Long  Island. 

The  committee  are  indebted  for  this  Havana  Journal  to  the  courtesy 
of  the  Rev.  B.  F.  De  Costa,  D.D.,  of  this  city. 

New  York,  Dec.  16,  1895. 


The  Rev.  John  Graham's  Journal  was  in  two  parts, 
and  only  the  second  has  been  found,  but  hope  of  recov- 
ing  the  first  has  not  been  abandoned.  That  which  we 
have  and  reproduce  in  full — for  it  is  a  broken  block  of 
honest  history  and  beyond  estimation  in  value — begins 
after  the  capture  of  Havana,  and  says  nothing  directly 
of  the  siege,  but  gives  a  quaint  and  vivid  picture  of  the 
plague  which  confirms  the  frightful  narrative  we  have 
quoted  from  the  historian,  Mante. 


A  NARROW  STREET  AND  CATHEDRAI,,   HAVANA 


UNIVERSITY 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  243 

JOURNAL    OF    THE    REV.  JOHN   GRAHAM, 

SHOWING    HOW    THE    PROVINCIAL   SOLDIERS   PERISHED    BEFORE    HAVANA    OF 
A   FEVER   THAT    WAS   LIKE    THE    PLAGUE. 

Saturday,  Sept.  25,  1762. — A  pleasant  morning,  nothing  extraordi- 
nary happened  the  last  Night — but  Sable  night  in  gloomy  Majesty  sat 
upon  the  Camp,  a  Season,  when  men  used  to  labour  and  fatague  in  ye 
day  retire  from  Labour  to  recline  their  weary  Limbs,  and  refresh  them- 
selves with  rest.  .  .  .  But  in  Camp  how  wide  the  difference,  the 
Season  true,  invites  to  Rest  but  alas  the  heavy  murmurs  that  humme 
among  the  Tents,  and  bursting  groans  from  throbbing  hearts  Seized  with 
panick,  horror  and  Surprise  because  febrile  flame  kindles  upon  their 
vitals,  or  Tyrant  pain,  Tyger  like  preys  upon  their  Bones  or  as  a  harpy 
Devours  their  entrails,  forbids  repose — nor  Sooner  did  I  deposit  my 
weary  Limbs  in  Bed  and  embrace  the  delectable  pillow,  but  groan 
echoes  to  groan,  and  Sigh  rises  upon  Sigh  not  unlike  the  waves  and  bil- 
lows of  a  Raging  Sea.  .  ,  .  Thus  with  our  Melancholly  Camp  a 
fatal  desease  enters  tent  after  Tent,  and  with  irresistable  force  strikes 
hands  with  soldier  after  Soldier,  and  with  hostile  violence  Seizes  the 
brave,  the  bold,  the  hearty  and  the  Strong,  no  force  of  arms,  no 
Strength  of  Limbs,  no  Solemn  vows,  no  piteous  moans,  no  heartrending 
Groans,  no  vertue  in  means,  no  Skill  of  Physicians  can  free  from  the 
Tyrant  hand,  but  death  cruel  death  that  stands  Just  behind,  draws  the 
Curtain,  Shews  himself  to  the  unhappy  prisoner,  and  with  peircing 
Sound  Cried  thou  art,  and  at  once  throws  his  fatal  dart,  and  fast  binds 
them  in  Iron  Chains — or  Some  disease  in  a  Milder  way  Salutes  them, 
and  more  gently  treats  them,  but  by  Sure  and  certain  Steps  flatters  them 
along  by  Slow  degrees  till  they  are  introduced  into  the  hands  of  unre- 
lenting death.  .  .  .  Others  roll  from  Side  to  Side,  and  turn  into 
every  posture  to  find  ease  from  pain  that  wrack  their  Tortured  limbs — 
others  that  are  yet  untouch'd  with  diseases  Called  from  their  rest  to  help 
the  distressed;  hearken  and  likly  you'l  hear  them  as  they  pass  along, 
return  oaths  for  groans  and  Curses  for  Sighs  horrible  to  hear!  Thus 
death  in  Camp  reigns  and  has  Tryumphed  over  Scores  already,  and  dis- 
eases has  hundreds  fast  bound  as  prisoners — and  how  few  alas  how  few 
are  prisoners  of  Hope. 

But  are  Soldiers  the  only  persons  attacked  or  exposed  ?  Verilly  no, 
where  are  the  Capts.  the  Lt.  and  Ensign  that  lately  appeared  and  adorned 
our  Camp,  now  Succepded  by  others  in  the  Same  Command  ;  are  they 


244  "^^^  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

not  becom  victims  to  Death,  and  Now  held  prisoners  in  the  Grave  on 
this  Barbarous  land,  their  deposited  with  many  of  their  bold  Soldiers  till 
the  last  trumpit  shall  wake  the  Sleeping  dead.  .  .  .  But  heark 
mithink  I  hear  a  different  voice,  uttering  heavy  Groans  where  is  it  ? 
Surely  its  in  the  next  Tent,  O  the  officers  of  the  field,  Certainly  no 
defference  paid  to  Rank — The  2d  in  Command  in  the  Regiment  is  Seized 
with  Cold  Chills  that  pass  through  every  part,  throws  all  nature  into  vio- 
lent agitation  and  Shakes  the  whole  frame  ;  a  febrile  flame  Succeeds,  this 
alternate,  till  his  vigorous  and  active  limbs  becomes  feeble,  and  his  ruddy 
Countenance,  put  on  a  pale  and  Languide  hue — yet  he  live^.  .  .  . 
Thus  night  after  night  are  we  accosted  with  the  cries  and  Groan  of  the 
Sick  and  dying. 

Lamentations,  Mourning  and  Woe  in  all  most  every  Tent  ;  and  what 
hearts  so  hard  ?  Who  so  past  all  Sensation,  thats  invested  with  any 
Degree  of  humanity,  as  not  to  feel  a  Sympathetic  Smart.     .     .     . 

Sabbath  Day,  Sept.  26,  1762. — This  the  day  by  divine  appointment 
Sanctified  and  set  apart  to  divine  Use  and  Service  ;  that  we  in  the  Dic- 
alogue  are  Commanded  to  Remember  and  keep  holy.     .     .     . 

No  occurances  uncommon  in  Camp  this  Day — no  publick  Services. 

Monday,  Sept.  27,  1762. — The  affairs  in  Camp  are  as  usual — a  Rumor 
prevails,  that  the  Troops  are  to  Embark  in  a  few  days. 

An  account  of  the  Troops  that  Served  in  the  Siege  of  the  Havanah  : 

Regular  Troops.  4     Independt   Companies, 

ist,  4th,  8th,  9th,  15th,  17,  2.     Companies  Gorham  Rangers. 

22,  27,  28,  34,  35,  40.  5th,  42.  ist  Connecticutt  Regment. 

2d,  42,  43,  46,  48,  49,  56,  6.     Companies  New  York. 

58,  60,  65,  72,  73,  77,  90,  2.     Do.  New  Jersey. 

95.  3.     Do.  Rho  Island. 

5300  Negroes  from  Jamaica,  Barbados  and  the  Windward  Islands. 

Navy — 17  Ships  of  the  Line,  23  Frigates. 

Tuesday,  Sept.  28,  1762. — The  last  night  as  well  as  the  preceding  day, 
Sultry  Hott,  had  but  little  rest — my  Ears  constantly  acosted  with  the 
groans  and  outcrys  of  the  Sick  and  distressed  :  that  the  Camp  is  no 
other  than  a  constant  Scene  of  Woe,  and  misery  opened,  where  the  act- 
ors are  a  Collect  Society  of  the  most  unhappy  and  unfortunate,  forlornly 
wreched — Cast  upon  some  Barbarous  Land,  among  a  Savage  kind  that 
know  no  pity,  but  there  tender  Mercies  are  Cruelty — where  they  are 
.Smitten  by  the  Sun  by  day,  and  the  Sickly  moon  by  night  that  in  ye  day 
the  drought  consume  them,  and  Hurtfull  damps  by  night— nor  releafe 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  245 

can  be  aforded,  there  pitying  friends  that  stand  around  with  pained 
hearts,  can  only  tell  them  necessary  Comforts  and  means  are  not  to  be 
had — what  a  word  is  this  to  be  Sounded  in  Ears  of  those  ready  to  die. 

But  turn  my  thots,  and  who  are  these — behold  a  Number,  Straggling 
along  the  road — awf ull,  how  they  look  ?  what  appearance  do  they  make  ? 
not  unlike  walking  ghost,  Just  come  from  the  Shades — but  viewing  more 
narrowly  find  them  to  be  men.  Crawled  out  of  their  Tent,  wasted  with 
Sickness  :  their  flesh  all  consumed,  there  bones  looking  thro  the  Skin, 
a  Mangie  and  pale  Countenance,  Eyes  almost  Sunk  into  there  heads, 
with  a  dead  and  downcast  look — hands  weak,  knees  feeble,  Joints  Trem- 
bling— leaning  upon  Staves  like  men  bowed  and  over  loaded  with  old 
age,  and  as  they  Slowly  move  along  Stagger  and  Reel,  like  drunken 
men — pityfull  objects.  Passing  by  these,  there  lyes  one  fal  en  down 
thro  weakness  by  the  wayside,  there  another,  and  another,  yea  Sundry 
more,  in  the  Same  Condition,  unable  to  help  themselves — there  two  or 
three  fainted  away — others  crawling,  according  to  their  strength,  not 
unlike  the  Snail  'in  motion,  with  a  little  water  to  reveive  them,  as  the  best 
Cordial  that  can  be  produced.  There  sets  a  Number  that  walked  a  few 
rods  and  there  strength  is  exhausted  and  are  seated  on  the  ground  to 
recruit,  that  they  may  return  to  there  Tents.  Younder  goes  four  of  the 
stouter  Sort  lugging  their  Capt.  that  stept  a  little  from  his  tent,  fainted 
away.  Back  to  his  Tent  again.  There  goes  one.  Supported  by  one  under 
each  Arm — goes  did  I  say  ?  rather  he  is  in  this  manner  Carried,  for  scare 
has  he  power  to  Set  one  foot  before  the  other,  nor  can  his  feeble  trem- 
bling knees  one  half  support  his  frame,  tlio  but  a  Shadow.  There 
another  and  another  in  like  manner  convey  along  from  one  tent  to 
another.  Just  behind  is  brot  along  another  in  his  Blanket  strung  upon 
two  poles — Carried  by  four.  Just  by.  Six  Soldiers  take  up  there  Captain 
upon  their  Shoulders  as  he  lies  pale  and  helpless  in  his  bed,  his  bedstead 
serves  as  a  Byer,  and  his  Curtains  waving  in  the  wind  as  a  pawl,  in  this 
manner  conveyed  from  his  Tent  in  Camp  to  a  Neighbouring  Room,  if 
possible  to  prevent  the  extinction  of  the  remaining  Sparks  of  Life. 
There  is  one,  two,  three  Graves  open'd,  here  they  come  with  as  many 
Corps,  there  blankets  both  there  winding  sheet  and  Coffins  ;  scarce  have 
they  finished  the  interment  of  these,  but  a  messenger  comes  in  hast  to 
tell  them,  they  must  open  a  grave  or  two  more,  for  Such  a  one  is  dead, 
and  another  is  dying. 

Some  there  rage  and  fury  seems  to  be  turn'd  against  God  himself — 
and  will  knaw  their  tongues  for  Anguish  and  pain,  and  blaspheme  the 
God  of  heaven,  because  of  their  pain  and  distress,  and  repent  not  of  their 


246  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

deeds — yea  Curse  their  King  and  God  looking  upward — at  a  little  dis- 
tance another  lies,  not  a  murmur  heard  from  his  Mouth,  but  seems  to  be 
thankfuU  for  everything  he  Receives,  and  thinks  every  favor  to  be  more 
than  he  deserves  ;  another  a  little  revived  feels  Some  appitite  or  food, 
and  he  complains  he  shall  be  Starved  to  Death — another  without 
Compliment  lays  hold  of  anything  that  comes  in  his  way,  and  with  his 
Teeth  soon  puts  a  period  to  life,  another  groans  under  a  Load  of  Sick- 
ness, and  is  ready  to  Curse  the  day  that  he  engaged  in  the  Service,  Call- 
ing himself  fool,  madman,  and  worse  than  distracted,  for  coming  to  this 
place  ;  but  still  ran  along  the  Tents,  here  a  Number  recruited  Somewhat 
— and  there  Cry  is  home,  home,  when  shall  we  go  aboard  ;  when  shall  we 
go  home  :  O  if  I  was  once  at  home  I  should  Soon  be  well  :  O  Crys 
one  we  haven't  received  our  price  money  :  no  Says,  another  and  never 
shall  ;  another  makes  answerethat  he  dont  care  nothing  about  the  price 
money  if  I  cou'd  but  once  get  away  from  this  Cursed  place  for  we  shall 
all  die  if  we  don'  go  Soon— and  if  I  cou'd  but  once  get  from  henc  they 
shall  never  catch  me  here  again  :  But  whats  here  ?  its  one  of  the  Ten- 
ders drunk,  anoy'n  Swearing  at  him — thus  in  different  posture  under  dif- 
ferent Circumstances  and  of  different  temper  and  disposition  they  are — 
and  what  a  Malancholly,  Gloomy  and  afflictive  Scene  is  this  ?  How  hor- 
rible to  behold  ? — but  retire  my  thots,  and  give  o'er  thy  Rove. 

About  5  o'clock  waited  on  Gen'l  Lyman  at  his  Room  in  the  Sheperd 
Battery  with  Capt  Ems  inform'd  that  a  Subaltern's  part  of  the  price 
money  now  to  be  divided,  was  ;^i26  Sterling.  A  pleasant  moon  Shine 
Evening,  about  12  at  night  a  Smart  Shower  of  rain. 

Wednesday,  Sept.  29,  1762. — Had  but  little  rest,  Sleep  seem'd  entirely 
to  depart  from  my  Eyes,  and  Slumber  from  my  Eye  Leds.  Filt  not  so 
Current  as  usual  when  I  arose — afterwards  more  Comfortable,  but  felt 
the  want  of  rest. 

Thursday,  Sept.  30,  1762. — The  Commanding  ofificers  of  every  Core, 
dined  with  his  Lordship,  who  informed  that  we  should  Sail  in  a  few  days 
and  also  that  in  one  Spanish  Ship  Sunk  in  the  harbour,  had  in  her  260,- 
000  dollors — nothing  but  the  distresses  of  Sick  and  dying  to  be  heard 
in  Camp.     This  Evening  about  10  o'Clock  Dr.  Hubbard  died. 

The  Learned  Phiscian,  endowed  with  Skill  armed  with  medicine,  came 
to  be  an  Instrument  to  rescue  others  from  the  Jaws  of  death — but  baf- 
fled in  his  Skill,  himself  attackt,  falls  a  prey  to  voratious  death  Nor 
means,  nor  Skill,  nor  Recipies  nor  forms  Could  the  fine  Surgeon  Save — 
but  yields  to  death,  and's  hide  within  the  grave. 

Friday,  Oct.  t,  1762. — This  day  my  daughter  Love  is  nine  years  of 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  247 

age — times  still  gloomy  and  melancholly  in  Camp  dying  7,  8  and  9  in 
the  Compass  of  24  hours  Lord  let  not  thine  anger  consume  us. 

Saturday,  Oct.  2,  1762. — All  the  forepart  of  the  day,  very  hott,  and 
Sultry  about  3  o'Clock  p.m.,  the  heavens  Covered  with  Blackness,  indi- 
cated heavy  Thunder  and  rain,  the  Clouds  seem'd  to  break  and  scatter 
and  but  a  Sprinkle  of  rain — then  Collected  again,  and  by  some  distant 
heavy  Thunder  were  broken  and  scattered  again — again  Collected,  and 
a  Soaking  heavy  rain  enSued.  last  till  about  Sundown,  when  it  ceased 
raining,  but  the  Clouds  not  cleared  of  about  )4  before  7  o'Clock  the 
rain  came  on  again — a  heavy  rain  till  past  Eight  when  it  cleared  of,  and 
the  Queen  of  Night  in  Silver  brightness  Shone  :  the  heavens  calm,  and 
Air  Serene  and  Clear. 

two  heavy  Showers  in  the  Night — 4  Vessels  arrived  in  the  harbour 
from  the  american  Coasts.  • 

The  whole  number  died  out  Gen'l.  Lymans  Regiment  Since  we  Left 
New  York,  which  then  Cosisted  of  914 — to  this  day,  is  184. 

Viz —         2  Captains. 
I  Lieutenant. 
I  Ensign. 
I  Surgeon's  Mate. 
5  Sergeant's. 
I  Drummer. 
173  Privates. 


Total,  "184 

Sabbath  Day,  Oct.  3,  1762, — Tho  this  day  is  by  divine  appointment 
is  Set  apart  as  holy,  and  consecrated  to  holy  uses  yet  in  Camp,  among 
the  Troops,  is  set  aside  as  common,  and  not  so  much  as  the  least  visible 
Shew  or  appearance  of  anything  yet  is  religious  carried  on  ;  but  God 
and  religion  Christ  and  Salvation  are  disregarded,  contemn'd  and  dis- 
piced,  and  we  live  as  tho  there  was  no  God,  no  future  Judgment,  but  as 
if  we  had  given  and  preserved,  life  to  ourselves,  and  consequently  were 
never  to  be  accountable  to  any  others  how  we  lived,  or  Spent  our 
days. 

I  asked  Col.  Putnam  in  ye  Morning  what  there  was  to  hinder  publick 
Service — he  answered,  he  knew  nothing  in  the  world  to  hinder  it — I  askt 
him  if  it  was  not  duty  if  there  was  nothing  to  hinder — Yes,  answered  he, 
by  all  means,  and  I  wonder  in  my  Soul  why  we  don't  have  Service  ;  and 
add'd  we  could  have  prayers  night  and  morning  Just  as  well  as  not — but 


248  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

then  says  he,  ther'l  be  but  few  to  attend,  theres  so  many  Sick,  and  so 
many  to  attend  the  sick  that  there  cou'd  be  a  Great  many,  I  replied — 
we  had  this  to  encourage  us,  where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  my 
Name,  Says  God,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  to  bless  them  ;  so 
that  it  was  not  numbers  that  entitled  to  the  blessing — thats  true  Says  he, 
I  will  go  down  to  the  General  and  Speak  to  him  about  it,  bides  good  by 
— have  heard  no  more  of  it  Sinse. 

Spent  the  day  in  retirement,  affairs  in  Camp  as  usual. 

Monday,  Oct.  4,  1762. — A  pleasant  morning — a  pleasant  Breeze  all  the 
forepart  of  the  Day — went  down  to  the  waterside  to  See  Mr.  Bancroft, 
but  he  was  gone,  and  returned  fatagued — in  the  afterpart  of  the  day  vis- 
ited part  of  the  hospital  Tents. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  5,  1762. — Had  comfortable  rest  last  night,  and  much 
refreshed  this  morning — Some  unpleasant  Salutations — visited  the  offi- 
cers Sick  in  Camp,  and  the  Soldiers  in  Some  part  of  the  Hospital  Tents; 
and  what  sad  Specticles  are  they,  many  of  them  ;  a  Bony  Frame  cov- 
ered with  a  little  Skin,  mere  skellitans. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  6,  1762. — Nothing  more  than  Common  Unless,  that 
the  men  dont  fall  Sick  anything  so  fast — nor  do  the  Sick  die  so  fast — 
and  more  comfortable  prospect  of  the  Recovery  of  many  that  have  been 
brought  low — visited  Gen'l.  Lyman,  and  all  the  officers  sick  in  Camp — 
the  rest  of  the  day  Spent  in  Reading. 

Thursday,  Oct.  7,  1762. — This  Morning  Col.  Putnam  and  Lt,  Park 
went  of  into  ye  Country  to  buy  fresh  provisions.  Such  as  poultry,  etc. — 
in  the  afterpart  of  ye  day  visited  part  of  the  hospital  Tents. 

Friday,  Oct.  8,  1762. — A  pleasant  Morning — the  day  thro  a  Comfort- 
able Breeze — the  forepart  of  the  day  visited  all  the  officers  sick  in  Camp 
two  Ships  of  war  came  into  the  Harbour  and  one  Cat  Ship. 

Nothing  extraordinary  in  Camp  happened  this  day. 

Saturday,  Oct.  9,  1762. — Much  labour  of  mind  to  waste  away  the 
time  with  most,  impatient  for  the  arrival  of  that  day  and  hour  when  they 
shall  embark  for  Home,  and  Crossing  the  foaming  Seas,  shall  reach 
their  native  Shores,  and  with  wraptured  hearts  o'er  come  with  Joy, 
Salute,  embrace,  and  fall  into  the  Arms,  of  their  long  wished  for,  wish- 
ing, lovely,  loving  friends. 

The  No.  of  dead  out  of  Gen'l.  Lymans  Regment,  207.  Nothing  re- 
markable in  Camp. 

Sabbath  Day,  Oct.  10,  1762. — This  Day  has  been  observed  as  Usual 
in  Camp,  a  total  neglect  of  all  religious  Services,  as  to  any  visible  ap- 
pearances in  General. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  249 

Orders  from  Head  Quarters.  That  the  provincials  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  embark  about  the  20th  of  this  instant. 

Long  looked  for,  long  expected,  much  desired  to  know  the  fixed 
time. 

Monday,  Oct.  11,  1762. — This  morning  3  Ships  of  the  Line  fell  down 
out  of  the  Harbor,  under  the  Command  of  Commodore  Kipple,  who  Sa- 
luted Admiral  Pocock  with  17  Cannon,  the  Admiral  return'd  15 — one  of 
the  3,  a  70  Gun  Ship,  unhappily  went  foul  of  one  of  ye  Sunk  Ships  in 
the  mouth  of  the  Harbour,  and  Stuck  fast  till  3  o'Clock  p.m.  when  She 
cleared  the  Ship — Tis  said  that  the  Ships  are  design  for  Jamacai. 

A.M.,  Visited  all  the  sick  officers  in  the  Regiment  that  are  in  Camp, 
then  visited  Gen'l.  Lyman,  p.m.  visited  a  considerable  part  of  the 
hospital  Tents — at  my  return  found  Col.  Putnam  and  Lt.  Parks  returned 
from  the  Country,  Lt.  Parks  Sick — at  Evening  had  the  JoyfuU  news  of 
the  prosperous  Season  in  New  England  and  the  Smiles  of  divine  provi- 
dence upon  the  labours  of  the  field  :  that  they  have  plentifull  Crops,  the 
News  bro't  in  by  a  vessel  last  from  New  London — that  arrived  this  af- 
ternoon in  the  harbour. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  12,  1762. — A  heavy  rain  towards  morning — a  pleasant 
morning  and  fine  Air. 

A.  m.  visited  officers  in  Camp.  Sick — all  seem  to  be  upon  the  recruit. 
This  morning  3  Ships  of  the  Line  more  fell  down  out  of  the  Harbour, 
to  Join  Commodore  Kepple,  who  are  to  Cruize  along  to  the  Northward 
if  possible  to  come  across  a  french  fleet  that  is  reported  to  be  out — and 
then  go  to  Jamaica.  Two  frigates  Joind  them  that  lay  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Harbour.  Towards  night,  the  heavens  were  cover'd  with  blackness, 
and  a  heavy  rain  came  on.  Severe  lightning  and  heavy  Thunder,  held 
till  8  o'clock  the  heavyest  rain  we  have  ever  known  upon  the 
Land. 

Wednesday,  Oct.  13,  1762. — This  Morning  another  Ship  of  the  line 
went  out  to  Join  the  above  mentioned  Ships  upon  their  Cruize — a  little 
before  4  o'Clock  p.m.  the  rain  came  on  again — continued  till  late  in  the 
Night. 

Thursday,  Oct.  14,  1762. — About  2  o'Clock  this  morning  Ephraim 
Parks,  one  of  our  Family  died,  a  rainy  night  this  morning  fair  and  pleas- 
ant— in  the  afternoon  very  strong  wind — at  night  heavy  rain. 

Friday,  Oct.  15,  1762. — A  very  heavy  Rain  all  the  latter  part  of  the 
night  and  in  the  morning,  little  after  sun  rise  Clear'd  of — a  pleasant 
fore  noon — this  day  my  youngst  Son  Narcissus  is  a  year  old.  a.m.  vis- 
ited the  sick  officers  in  Camp.    p.m.  Orders  from  head  quarters,    6  Trans- 


2  50  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

ports  appointed  for  the  Connecticutt  Troops  to  Carry  them  to  N.  York, 
who  are  order'd  to  imbark  Next  Tuesday  —  good  news  to  the 
Troops. 

Saturday,  Oct.  i6,  1762. — A  pleasant  and  comfortable  Morning  for 
this  Country  that  has  proved  so  fatal  to  so  many  of  our  Troops.  Vis- 
ited the  offices  sick  in  Camp — this  day  a  distrabution  of  the  troops 
among  the  transports  and,  am  order'd  aboard  the  Royal  Duke,  a  large 
Transport  Ship  of  about  500  tuns. 

Sabbath  Day,  Oct  17,  1762. — All  in  a  hurry  making  preparations  for 
the  Embercation  and  laying  Stores  for  the  Voige  to  New  York — tho'  the 
day  is  the  Lord's  by  a  special  appropriation,  yet  nothing  of  religious  ser- 
vice observed,  or  anything  besides  the  present  important  affair  of  pro- 
viding each  one  for  himself  without  an  relation  to  another,  and  as  tho' 
there  was  no  being  to  be  dependant  upon  but  each  upon  himself. 

Visited  the  sick  officers  in  Camp — by  Yesterday  return,  died  the  last 

Week 19 

Dead  before 207 

In  Gen'l.  Lyman  Regd.     Total 226 

Monday,  Oct.  18,  1762. — The  Camp  all  in  a  Tumult,  in  a  hurry  em- 
barking the  Sick  and  laying  stores  for  voyage  one  running  one  way  an- 
other hastning  another  in  a  hurry  doing  but  little — about  4  o'Clock  p.m. 
embarked  on  board  the  Royal  Duke,  a  fine  large  ship  and  noble  Conve- 
niences for  Officers  and  Soldiers — the  main  body  of  the  Connecticutt 
Troops  embarque'd  this  Day  on  board  the  transports  appointed  for 
them. 

Tuesday,  Oct.  19. — This  day  Gen'l.  Lyman  Reed  of  the  Pay  Master 
Gen'l.  the  prize  money  for  Connecticutt  Troops — and  pay'd  to  the  sev- 
eral Capts.  of  our  Regm't  a  propotion  for  themselves  and  Soldiers.  Still 
lye  in  harbour, 

Wedndsday,  Oct.  20,  1762. — Weigh'd  anchor  and  fell  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  harbour,  a.m.  went  on  board  the  Resolution  and  Rec'd 
the  adjutant.     100  Dollars  and  150  in  Bitts. 

Thursday,  Oct.  21,  1762. — Just  at  night  going  out  of  the  harbour 
narrowly  escaped  running  on  the  Rocks — the  Ship  struck  once,  but  a 
wind  Sprung  up  and  carried  us  Clear — stood  of  to  sea  all  night. 

Fryday,  Oct.  22,  1762. — Return'd  Back  to  find  the  fleet.  Join'd  the 
fleet  toward  night,  when  the  Capts.  of  Transports  Rec'd  there  orders 
from  the  Commadore.     Was  very  ill  all  day. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  25  I 

Saturday,  Oct.  23,  1762. — More  comfortable  this  Morning,  contin- 
ued on  Course  towards  the  rnetazes. 

Sabbath  Day,  Oct.  24. — Had  a  vefy  ill  day  unable  to  move,  thick 
broke  out  all  over— a  pleasant  day. 

Monday,  Oct.  25,  1762. — the  last  night  towards  the  latter  part  strong 
gust  of  wind — Continued  all  day — more  comfortable  to  day  but  not  able 
to  sett  up  much. 

Taken  out  of  the  money  Reed  of  Dollars  3.  Bitts  5. 

John  Graham, 

10  March,  1763. 

The  leader  of  the  provincial  troops  in  the  Havana  ex- 
pedition was  General  Phineas  Lyman,  of  whom  we 
have  this  brief  and  mournful  account  in  Appleton's  En- 
cyclopaedia : 

Lyman,  Phineas,  soldier,  born  in  Durham,  Conn.,  in  17 16  ;  died  near 
Natchez,  Miss.,  10  Sept.,  1774.  He  was  bred  to  the  trade  of  a  weaver, 
but  subsequently  prepared  for  college,  and  was  graduated  from  Yale  in 

1738 

In  1761  he  was  ordered  to  Canada,  and  in  1762  he  was  sent  with  2,300 
men  to  assist  in  the  capture  of  Havana,  and  subsequently  placed  in  com- 
mand of  the  entire  provincial  force  during  that  unlucky  expedition.  At 
its  close  he  was  deputed  by  the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  to  proceed 
to  England  and  receive  the  part  of  the  prize  money  that  remained  due. 
A  company  of  "  Military  Adventurers  "  had  also  been  formed  by  his 
exertions,  chiefly  composed  of  those  who  had  served  in  the  late  wars, 
whose  object  it  was  to  obtain  from  the  British  government  a  tract  of 
land  on  the  Mississippi  and  Yazoo  rivers.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in 
England,  in  1763,  a  change  of  ministry  took  place,  and  so  many  ob- 
stacles appeared  in  the  way  of  accomplishing  his  design  that  he  re- 
mained abroad  until  1772,  unwilling  to  return  home  and  admit  failure. 
He  was  at  last  taken  back  by  his  son,  the  wreck  of  his  former  self,  but 
not  until  he  had  obtained  permission  from  the  crown  to  settle  on  a  tract 
of  land  twenty  miles  square,  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  south  of  the 
Yazoo.  The  "  Military  Adventurers  "  having  been  reorganized,  Gen. 
Lyman  began  in  December,  1773,  with  a  few  companions,  to  make  a 
preliminary  survey.  The  party  settled  near  Natches,  but  Lyman  soon 
died. 


2  52  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

As  two  of  the  British  lords  divided  more  than  a 
miUion  dollars,  it  was  Qot  unnatural  on  the  part  of 
the  provincial  officers  to  think  there  was  something 
coming  to  them;  but  the  wild  land  in  the  Yazoo  coun- 
try was  in  those  times  a  sorry  substitute  for  the  Span- 
ish silver  and  gold  that  was  carried  to  England. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  253 


CHAPTER  XV. 

EARLY    INCIDENTS    OF   THE    PRESENT    WAR. 

The  Ibarra  Band  the  First  Organized — Coloma  and  His  Fianc6,  Being 
Captured,  are  Married  in  Moro  Castle — Efforts  Made  for  Peace, 
but  the  Disturbance  Spread  Rapidly — General  Campos,  President 
Marti,  Gomez,  and  Maceo  Land  in  Cuba — Marti's  Death — The 
Cause  of  Guerilla  Warfare. 

On  the  24th  of  February,  1895,  the  citizens  of  Havana 
were  greatly  surprised  to  learn  that  public  order  had 
been  disturbed  in  two  dififerent  sections  of  the  country. 
Captain-General  Calleja  had  received  an  official  com- 
munication from  the  civil  governor  of  the  province  of 
Matanzas,  stating  that  an  insurgent  band  had  made  its 
appearance  in  Ibarra,  while  the  civil  governor  of  San- 
tiago de  Cuba  had  telegraphed  him  to  the  efifect  that 
mobs  were  causing  trouble  both  in  Baires  and  in  Jigu- 
ani.  Further  information  gathered  was  not  reassuring 
to  Calleja,  and  by  his  proclamation  of  the  28th  of  Feb- 
ruary, "  martial  law  "  was  put  in  force  in  the  two  prov- 
inces named.  According  to  Art.  3  of  said  proclama- 
tion, no  penalty  whatever  should  be  imposed  on  any 
rebels  who  would  surrender  in  eight  days. 

That  Ibarra  band,  the  first  one  in  the  present  war, 
numbered  about  thirty  men,  one  of  them  being  Juan 
Gualberto  Gomez,  colored,  the  well-known  editor  of 
the  popular  Havana  daily.  La  Lucha.  The  chief  of 
the   party,  however,   was    Antonio    Lopez    Coloma,    a 

young  man  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Ignacia  plantation 

c— 15 


254  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  had  organized  the  band.  On  his  leaving  for  the 
neighboring  fields,  another  young  man,  Armando  Gon- 
zalez, tried  to  detain  him  by  force;  but  Coloma  killed 
him  on  the  spot.  Four  days  afterwards  the  party  were 
encamped  in  the  woods  near  the  Ignacia  sugar  mill; 
when  a  few  cavalrymen  and  a  small  guerilla  band  made 
a  sudden  attack  upon  the  rebels  ;  some  of  them  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping,  Gomez  among  them;  but  others 
were  made  prisoners. 

A  romantic  incident  is  deserving  of  mention  here. 
Lopez  Coloma  and  Senorita  Amparo  Orbe  had  been  en- 
gaged for  some  time,  and  when  he  determined  to  take 
to  the  field,  she  ran  away  from  home  to  follow  him  and 
share  his  fate.  So  it  happened  that  she  was  a  pris- 
oner with  her  lover  in  the  San  Severino  Castle  of  Ma- 
tanzas  ;  but  was  released  a  few  days  later,  while  Coloma 
had  to  remain  in  the  fortress.  He  was  subsequently 
taken  to  the  Moro  Castle  of  Havana,  and  the  young 
woman  having  moved  to  the  capital,  their  marriage  took 
place  in  that  prison. 

Editor  Gomez  had  escaped  unhurt ;  but  after  having 
ascertained  what  had  happened  to  Lopez  Coloma  and 
most  of  his  companions,  decided  to  surrender  to  the 
authorities,  which  he  did,  as  did  likewise  the  rest  of 
the  members  of  the  Ibarra  band,  who  were  scattered 
about  the  country.  He  was  brought  before  General 
Calleja,  in  Havana,  who  pardoned  him  at  once,  in 
accordance  with  said  Article  3  of  his  proclamation ;  but 
while  Gomez  was  still  in  the .  governor's  palace,  the 
chief-of-police  arrived  there  with  an  order  from  the 
court  to  arrest  him  on  a  charge  that  he  was  implicated 
with  two  Spaniards,  Agapito  Anitua  and  Eladio  Lar- 
ranaga,  in  the  introduction  of  a  lot  of  firearms  and  car- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  255 

tridges,  of  military  pattern.  The  Cuban  and  the  two 
Spaniards  were  tried  and  found  guilty.  Gomez  and 
Anitua  were  given  twenty  year  sentences,  and  Lar- 
ranaga  twelve  of  hard  labor  in  Ceuta,  the  Spanish  fort- 
ress on  the  African  coast,  opposite  Gibraltar. 

Soon  after  the  dispersion  of  the  Coloma  band,  it 
became  evident  that  the  spirit  of  rebellion  had  already 
spread  through  several  districts,  where  secret  prepara- 
tions had  been  made,  as  the  result  of  long  and  careful 
plotting  at  home  and  abroad.  Dr.  Martin  Marrero 
gathered  about  fifty  men  under  the  Cuban  flag  at 
Jaguey  Grande,  and  Joaquin  Pedroso,  a  young  gentle- 
man of  Havana,  organized  another  small  party  at 
Aguada  de  Pasojeros;  but  these  two  bands  were  only  a 
few  days  in  the  field.  Troops  were  sent  against  them 
and  a  general  dispersion  followed.  Most  of  the  men 
surrendered,  but  Dr.  Marrero  was  allowed  to  leave  for 
Spain,  together  with  two  friends  of  Pedroso.  Before 
surrendering,  some  of  Marrero's  men  took  refuge  in  the 
"  Cienaga  de  Zapata,"  where  they  met  an  unexpected 
and  terrible  foe.  They  had  to  fight  regular  battles  to 
protect  themselves  against  swarms  of  furious  alligators, 
the  most  aggressive  inhabitants  of  that  vast  marsh-land. 
There  was  trouble  of  a  different  kind  in  Pedroso's  party; 
this  gentleman  commanded  his  own  band  only  until  it 
received  a  reinforcement  consisting  of  a  number  of 
highwaymen,  under  Matagas,  who  at  once  instituted 
himself  as  supreme  chief,  notwithstanding  all  proper 
protestations.  Matagas,  like  Manuel  Garcia,  Pregino 
Alfonso,  and  some  others  not  so  well  known,  had  been 
plundering  the  country  for  many  years  previous  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  present  revolution.  Manuel  Garcia, 
generally  called  "El  Rey  de   los   Campos  de  Cuba" 


256  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

(the  king  of  the  Cuban  fields),  was  killed  in  an 
encounter  with  the  troops  at  the  same  time  the  above 
events  were  taking  place. 

In  the  meantime,  Julio  Sanguilly,  Jose  Maria  Aguirre 
and  Ramon  Perez  Trujillo  had  been  arrested.  Sanguilly, 
a  major-general,  and  Aguirre,  a  colonel  of  the  Cubans 
in  the  last  war,  claimed  American  citizenship  ;  Perez 
belonged  to  the  Central  Junta  of  the  Autonomist  party 
in  Havana.  Nothing  could  be  proven  against  Aguirre 
or  Perez,  and  they  were  released  after  due  investiga- 
tion before  a  civil  court ;  but  Sanguilly  was  convicted, 
and  sentenced  to  prison  for  life. 

The  dispersion  of  the  bands  at  Jaguey  and  Aguada 
led  to  the  belief  that  peace  would  prevail  in  the  prov- 
inces of  Matanzas  and  Las  Villas.  Not  so  in  that  of 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  where  a  tremendous  plot  was  dis- 
covered. The  conspirators  had  planned  to  set  fire  to 
the  whole  of  Santiago  and  start  a  general  massacre, 
the  first  intended  victim  being  Governor  Enrique  Cap- 
riles,  who,  receiving  warning,  lost  no  time  in  preventing 
any  possible  disturbance  in  his  capital.  Numerous  bands 
began,  also,  to  appear  in  other  districts  under  "  Guiller- 
mon,  Quintin,  Bandera,  Periquito,  Perez,  Garzon  Goulet, 
Herrezuelo,  Enrique  Brooks,  the  brothers  Sartorius,  the 
journalist,  Jose  Miro,  Guerra,  Feria,  Marrero,  Bojas, 
Lora,  the  brothers  Rabi,  the  Estradas,  Reitor  and  Tam- 
ayo."  Many  of  these  chiefs  had  served  the  Cuban 
cause  during  the  last  war,  especially  Bartolome  Masso, 
a  very  influential  man  in  the  Manzanillo  district. 

The  mobs  at  Baires  and  Jiguani  were  unimportant, 
except  as  a  premonition  of  future  events ;  but  now,  the 
general  uprising  in  the  Santiago  province  and  the  pres- 
ence of  Masso  in  the  field,  and  the  information  obtained 


T.  ESTRADA  PALMA, 
Minister  to  U.  S. 


BENJAMIN  J.  GUERRA, 
Treasurer. 


GONZALO  DE  QUESADA, 
Secretary. 


HORATIO  S.  RUBENS, 
Counsel. 


THE  CUBAN  JUNTA. 


(257) 


V  JiRSITT, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  259 

in  regard  to  the  work  of  revolutionists  abroad,  made 
the  governor,  the  poUtical  parties,  and  the  population 
of  the  Island  at  large  understand  that  the  situation  was 
really  a  very  serious  one.  The  Cuban  Autonomists  or 
home-rulers  had  already  begun  to  use  their  influence 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  revolution,  and  General 
Calleja  authorized  Leyva,  one  of  the  leading  members 
of  their  Central  Junta,  to  confer  with  Masso  to  try  to 
persuade  him  to  give  up  his  plans,  with  the  assurance 
that  no  penalty  was  to  be  inflicted  on  those  insurgents 
who  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  return  to  their 
homes  in  peace,  and  that  all  facilities  were  to  be  given 
those  preferring  to  leave  the  country. 

Leyva  left  for  Manzanillo,  and  soon  after  his  arrival 
there  he  completed  all  arrangements  to  meet  Masso, 
who  was  at  "La  Odiosa."  He  thought  it  a  good 
plan  to  be  accompanied  by  some  influential  men  be- 
longing to  the  various  political  groups  in  Cuba,  and 
the  following  gentlemen  consented  to  help  him  in  his 
mission  :  Manuel  Romagosa  and  Jose  Ramirez,  Auto- 
nomists (Cubans)  ;  Virgilio  Lopez  Chavez,  a  distin- 
guished officer  in  the  Spanish  navy  (Cuban)  ;  Manuel 
Muniz  Fernandez,  Conservative,  a  banker  (Spaniard), 
and  Marcelino  Vazquez  Liora,  a  merchant  (Spaniard). 
This  committee  did  their  best  to  impress  Masso  with 
the  disastrous  consequencs  of  another  civil  war,  and 
some  remarks  touched  him  deeply  ;  but  the  only  prac- 
tical result  of  the  conference  was  Masso's  proposition 
that  the  military  authorities  allow  ten  days  for  him  to 
consult  other  Cuban  chiefs  and  give  a  definite  answer. 
The  commissioners  returned  to  Manzanillo,  and  Leyva 
proceeded  to  Santiago  to  see  General  Lachambre,  the 
military  commander  of  that  province.  Lachambre  flatly 


26o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

refused  to  allow  further  delay  for  the  submission  of  the 
rebels,  and  ordered  his  troops  to  attack  them  immedi- 
ately. 

Other  efforts  were  made  in  favor  of  peace.  On  the 
day  following  Leyva's  departure  from  "  La  Odiosa," 
Masso  received  there  his  old  friend,  Juan  Baptista  Spot- 
torno,  a  man  of  such  prominence  in  the  revolutionary 
party  that  he  was  president  of  the  Cuban  organization 
for  some  time  during  the  last  war,  and  a  committee 
of  five  ex-rebel  chiefs  left  Manzanillo  for  Havana,  to  ask 
the  captain-general  to  stop  hostilities.  It  was  all  useless. 
Masso  would  not  surrender  without  delay,  and  Calleja 
would  not  countermand  Lachambre's  orders.  Further 
endeavors  on  the  part  of  Leyva,  embodied  in  a  remark- 
able letter  of  protest  to  Masso,  and  later  on,  the  action 
of  the  Central  Junta  of  the  Cuban  Home  Rule  party  in 
publishing  an  important  "  Appeal  to  the  People  of 
Cuba,"  could  not  prevent  the  dreaded  conflagration. 

By  this  time,  the  situation  in  thi  eastern  province 
was  a  rather  peculiar  one  from  a  military  standpoint. 
The  rebel  force  mustered  about  i,6oo  men,  divided  in 
twelve  bands — the  largest  not  250  strong — scattered  in 
several  districts  of  that  thinly  populated  section  of 
Cuba.  The  government  troops  were  also  few  in  num- 
ber and  serving  mainly  in  the  seaport  garrisons, 
for  the  whole  army  was  less  than  14,000.  General 
Lachambre  was  at  once  reinforced  by  a  column  under 
Colonel  Santocildes.  Nearly  all  the  rebel  bands  were 
composed  of  cavalrymen,  as  horses  were  plentiful  in 
the  country,  and  the  Cubans  are  excellent  riders ;  but 
they  were  very  badly  armed,  having  only  their  ma- 
chetes, and  a  few  old  guns.  For  this  reason  their 
operations  consisted  chiefly  in  trying  to  overcome  small 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  26 1 

garrisons  of  regulars  or  volunteers,  to  obtain  their  arms 
or  ammunition.  The  first  occurrence  of  this  kind  was 
dramatically  interesting. 

Veguitas,  a  small  town  on  the  road  between  Manza- 
nillo  and  Bayamo,  was  ungarrisoned,  and  the  arms  be- 
longing to  the  company  of  local  volunteers  had  been 
gathered  in  a  certain  house.  Esteban  Tamayo  knew 
this,  entered  the  town  with  his  fifty  followers,  went  di- 
rectly to  the  residence  of  Cayetano  de  la  Maza,  the  cap- 
tain of  said  volunteers,  and  ordered  him  to  deliver  the 
arms  of  the  company.  Maza  made  no  resistance,  and 
Tamayo's  men  were  soon  provided  with  guns  and  car- 
tridges, only  to  discover  at  once  that  they  had  been  ren- 
dered useless.  The  disappointment  filled  the  whole 
band  with  rage  ;  the  captain  was  prefunctorily  court- 
martialed  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  then  and  there,  and 
the  customary  number  of  men  proceeded  to  execute  the 
terrible  sentence.  At  that  critical  moment  a  young 
woman  sprang  between  the  victim  and  the  muzzles  of 
the  rifles,  and  facing  them,  cried  to  the  rebels :  "  He 
will  not  die  before  you  have  killed  a  Cuban  woman." 
She  was  Senorita  Maria  de  la  Maza,  the  captain's  niece, 
whose  marvelous  act  of  devotion  and  bravery  paralyzed 
the  executioners  and  caused  intense  astonishment  to  the 
whole  party.  The  sentence  was  reconsidered,  resulting 
in  a  grant  of  pardon,  and  the  band  left  Veguitas. 

Several  small  columns  of  regulars  and  local  gueril- 
las went  out  to  the  country  in  pursuit  of  the  rebel  par- 
ties, the  latter  taking  to  the  inaccessible  woods  when 
they  could  not  fight  to  advantage,  and  falling  upon 
badly  protected  villages  to  get  guns  and  cartridges,  in 
which  they  were  sometimes  successful,  after  more  or 
less  skirmishing  and  Joss  of  men  on  both  sides.     In  this 


262  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

way  the  military  operations  of  the  present  revolution 
were  started,  and  the  hide-and-seek  methods  have  pre- 
vailed ever  since.  It  is  a  fact  that  no  better  plan  of 
campaigning  could  be  adopted  in  Cuba  to  make  an 
armed  conflict  last  indefinitely,  for  the  topographical 
and  climatic  conditions  of  the  country  demand  guerilla 
warfare.  The  mountains  are  covered  with  the  thickest 
woods  imaginable,  while  the  dry  plains  are  a  mass  of 
manigua  (very  high  bushes  and  grasses),  and  the  rest 
of  the  territory  is  quite  marshy.  Only  the  cultivated 
lands,  after  harvesting,  could  afford  a  place  for  regular 
battles.  Whether  the  contending  armies  be  large  or 
small,  nothing  but  guerilla  warfare  is  possible  in  Cuba, 
and  large  battles  being  out  of  the  question,  any  of  the 
parties  can,  at  will,  make  the  conflict  one  of  long  dura- 
tion. This  will  explain  why  50,000  or  more  men  of 
the  revolutionary  army,  and  over  130,000  Spanish  regu- 
lars, actually  on  the  field,  have  engaged  in  military 
operations  for  one  year,  and  no  decisive  encounter  has 
been  reported  yet.  Hardly  a  day  has  passed  without 
the  occurrence  of  some  fighting,  but  nearly  every  en- 
counter was  merely  a  skirmish  with  more  or  less  combat- 
ants in  it,  giving  occasion  to  many  examples  of  individ- 
ual bravery,  but  affording  very  few  opportunities  to 
register  brilliant  victories  on  either  side.  Some  of  them 
will  be  mentioned  here  as  characteristic  specimens  of  Cu- 
ban warfare,  in  which  all  dangers  and  discomforts  are 
multiplied,  while  martial  glory  is  generally  at  a  discount. 
But  other  events  must  be  reviewed  in  succession. 
The  Cuban  Junta  in  New  York  had  not  been  idle,  and 
it  soon  began  to  organize  expeditions  of  men,  arms,  and 
accoutrements  which  were  gladly  received  by  their 
friends  in  Cuba, 


HER    STRUGGLES  EOR   LIBERTY.  263 

Antonio  Maceo  and  his  brother  Jose,  with  Flor  Crom- 
bet,  Cebreco,  and  other  comrades,  a  score  in  all,  had 
left  Costa  Rico  and  succeeded,  not  without  some  diffi- 
culty, in  landing  near  Baracoa,  on  the  31st  of  March. 
On  their  way  to  the  interior,  Flor  Crombet  was  killed, 
and  some  were  made  prisoners  by  detachments  of  reg- 
ulars, but  the  Maceos  and  Cebreco  finally  joined  the 
band  of  Periquito  Perez,  about  Guantanamo,  and  then 
Antonio  Maceo  took  command  of  the  revolutionary 
arjny  in  the  Oriental  province. 

Jose  Marti  and  Maximo  Gomez  also  set  foot  on  Cuban 
land  at  Cabonico  (Baracoa  district)  on  the  14th  of 
April,  and  after  hiding  in  a  cave  for  two  days,  they 
marched  inland,  and  met  the  party  under  Felix  Buen,, 
who  received  them  with  military  honors,  and  recog- 
nized Gomez  as  general-in-chief  of  the  Cuban  army. 
The  influx  of  help  and  the  presence  of  the  principal 
leaders  caused  the  revolt  to  spread  more  and  more  every 
day,  and  the  men  in  arms  soon  numbered  over  6,000. 

Spain  had  reinforced  her  colonial  army  with  a  num- 
ber of  battalions  when  the  Sagasta  Cabinet  resigned, 
and  the- Conservative  party  took  charge  of  the  govern- 
ernment.  Premier  Canovas  then  had  Martinez  Campos 
appointed  governor-general  of  Cuba,  who  left  at  once 
for  his  destination  with  another  reinforcement  of  25,000 
men.  He  landed  at  Guantanamo  on  the  i6th  of  April, 
and  also  visited  Santiago  and  other  ports,  as  he  wished 
to  give  preliminary  orders,  before  reaching  Havana. 
His  elaborate  instructions  referred  to  every  department 
of  military  service,  especially  to  the  proper  diet  and 
medical  attendance  of  his  soldiers,  to  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  of  war,  and  to  the  protection  of  non-com- 
batants. 


264  "THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  revolt  was  centred  in  the  Santiago  Province.  The 
daily  increases  of  both  armies  added  importance  to  the 
struggle,  without  altering,  however,  its  characteristics. 
Detachments  of  small  columns  of  Spanish  foot-men  and 
groups  of  mounted  rebels  were  moving  continually 
about  the  country,  and  hunting  for  one  another.  There 
were  marches  and  countermarches,  ambushes  and  sur- 
prises, with  occasional  hard  fighting  at  close  quarters. 
The  following  is  an  example  : 

THE    DEATH    OF    THE    CUBAN    LEADER,    MARTI. 

Marti  landed  with  Maximo  Gomez  on  the  southern 
part  of  the  Baracoa  district,  and  from  the  moment  he 
arrived  his  purpose  was  to  extend  the  war  to  Puerto 
Principe,  availing  himself  of  the  military  experience  of 
his  companion,  the  Dominican  chief,  who,  in  the  last 
campaign,  had  made  El  Camaguey  the  scene  of  his 
operations.  They  both  were  near  Ventas  de  Casa- 
nova, and,  as  it  has  been  ascertained,  after  organizing 
an  expedition  that  was  to  march  to  Puerto  Principe 
under  Gomez's  command,  Marti  intending  to  go  to 
the  seacoast  in  order  to  return  abroad  and  continue 
his  work  there  in  favor  of  the  secessionist  revolution. 
It  was  then  that  a  column,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Jimenez  de  Sandoval,  left  Palma  Soriano  for  Reman- 
ganaguas  and  afterwards  proceeded  from  the  latter 
place  to  Ventas  de  Casanova.  The  column  then 
marched  towards  the  Contramaetre  river,  and  on  the 
road  arrested  a  man,  Chacon  by  name,  on  whom  were 
found  letters  from  the  rebels  and  some  money  with 
which  he  was  going  to  make  purchases  by  order  of  the 
insurgent  chiefs.     Chacon  gave  some  information  rela- 


J 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  26$ 

live  to  the  enemy's  location,  and  accordingly  Colonel 
Jimanez  de  Sandoval,  on  the  19th  of  May,  gave  the 
order  to  march,  and  arrived  at  La  Brija.  The  Hernan 
Cortes  squadron,  under  Captain  Oswaldo  Capa,  was  in 
vanguard,  and  attacked  a  band  commanded  by  Bellito, 
which  had  come  to  meet  the  column. 

When  Colonel  Sandoval  heard  of  it  he  advanced  up 
to  the  plain  of  Dos  Rios,  and  ordered  his  infantry  to 
open  fire.  A  spirited  combat  ensued  with  fatal  results 
to  the  insurgents,  as  while  the  Spanish  guide,  Antonio 
Oliva,  ran  to  help  a  soldier  who  was  surrounded  by  a 
large  group  of  the  enemy,  the  guide  fired  his  rifle  at  a 
horseman  who  fell  to  the  ground,  and  was  found  to  be 
Jose  Marti.  Captain  Enrique  Satue  was  the  first  to  rec- 
ognize him.  A  fight  took  place  on  the  spot,  the  rebels 
trying  hard  to  carry  the  corpse  away.  1  here  was  also 
another  very  important  incident.  Maximo  Gomez  was 
wounded,  which  for  some  days  led  to  the  belief  that 
he  was  dead.  According  to  one  narrative,  Gomez 
was  on  the  scene  of  the  above  events  from  the 
beginning  of  the  combat,  and  while  hurrying  to  re- 
cover personally  the  corpse  of  Marti,  he  was  wounded, 
although  not  seriously.  Others  say  that  the  famous 
chief  had  already  taken  leave  of  Marti  to  go  to  Cam- 
aguey,  when,  passing  at  some  distance  from  Dos  Rios, 
he  heard  the  report  of  musketry ;  he  imagined  what 
was  happening,  and  ran  to  rescue  the  civil  chief  of  the 
revolution  ;  but  when  he  arrived  Marti  had  been  killed. 
Gomez  being  wounded,  Borrero  placed  him  on  his  own 
horse,  and  in  this  manner  took  him  away  in  safety. 
The  Spaniards,  after  their  victory,  moved  to  Reman- 
ganaguas,  where  the  corpse  of  Marti  was  embalmed. 
From  the  latter  town   it   was   taken   to    Santiago  de 


266  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Cuba,  and  while  on  the  way  there  the  troops  had  to 
repel  an  attack  from  the  rebels,  who  intended  to  carry 
off  the  coffin.  On  arrival  at  the  Oriental  capitol  the 
remains  of  Marti  were  exhibited  in  the  cemetery,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  effects  of  rapid  decomposition,  which 
had  set  in,  many  people  recognized  the  features  of  the 
secessionist  agitator,  as  stated  in  an  official  attestation. 
Colonel  Sandoval  presided  over  the  funeral  ceremonies, 
and  General  Salcedo  caused  the  dead  man  to  be  given  a 
decent  resting-place.  Here  are  Sandoval's  words  on 
the  occasion : 

Gentlemen: — In  presence  of  the  corpse  of  him  who  In  life  was  Jose 
Marti,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  relative  or  friend  who  might  speak  over 
his  remains  such  words  as  are  customary,  I  request  you  not  to  consider 
these  remains  to  be  those  of  an  enemy  any  more,  but  simply  those  of  a 
man,  carried  by  political  discords  to  face  Spanish  soldiers.  From  the 
moment  the  spirits  have  freed  themselves  of  matter  they  are  sheltered 
and  magnanimously  pardoned  by  the  Almighty,  and  the  abandoned  mat- 
ter is  left  in  our  care,  for  us  to  dispel  all  rancorous  feelings,  and  give  the 
corpse  such  Christian  burial  as  is  due  to  the  dead. 

The  province  of  Puerto  Principe  was  still  in  peace. 
Only  one  insurgent  band  had  been  raised,  and  this  was 
soon  defeated  under  the  leadership  of  Pachin  Varona, 
On  the  1 2th  of  April,  he  went  to  San  Miguel  de 
Nuevitas,  a  village  whose  only  garrison  consisted  of  a 
few  men  of  the  civil  guard,  commanded  by  Sergeant 
Martinez.  Varona's  force  attacked  them  in  their  quar- 
ters, and  the  besieged  made  a  good  defense,  until  other 
troops  came  to  their  rescue,  and  dispersed  the  band,  after 
several  of  its  members  had  been  killed.  During  the  de- 
fense there  was  an  unusual  incident.  The  Cubans  at- 
tacked the  private  house  of  Sergeant  Martinez, whose  son, 
a  boy  eleven  years  old,  took  a  rifle  and  killed  the  first  man 


V 

f- 

oi 

Pi. 

'n 

< 

11 

s 

V 

w 

u 

C/1 

V 

o 

X 

8'^ 


fUNIVERSITT. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  26g 

who  tried  to  force  an  entrance.  The  father  hurried  to 
the  house,  and  arrived  just  in  time  to  shoot  at  a  negro 
who  was  entering-,  machete  in  hand  ;  but  he  missed  his 
mark,  and  the  negro  brandished  his  weapon  to  kill 
his  opponent,  when  Martinez's  wife  disabled  the  in- 
truder by  means  of  a  terrible  blow  with  another 
machete. 

Maximo  Gomez  had  made  up  his  mind  to  invade  the 
territory  of  Puerto  Principe,  generally  known  as  "  El 
Camaguey,"  and,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the 
Spanish  generals  to  prevent  it,  he  crossed  the  boundary 
line  early  in  June.  On  the  5th  of  that  month,  the  old 
Marquis  de  Santa  Lucia,  an  ex-Cuban  president,  left  the 
city  of  Puerto  Principe  and  took  the  field,  in  company 
with  a  number  of  friends,  while  Maceo,  leading  a  few 
thousands  of  his  Orientals,  also  entered  that  province,  to 
aid  in  its  general  uprising.  Many  citizens  joined  the 
invading  army,  or  the  new  bands  that  were  appearing 
every  day.  Regiments  of  regulars  hurried  to  Cama- 
guey, and  operations  were  actively  conducted,  as  in 
Santiago  province,  notwithstanding  the  effect  of  the 
rainy  season,  which  had  already  set  in. 

Gomez  proceeded  immediately  to  put  his  general 
plan  into  execution.  He  ordered  all  Cuban  bands, 
First,  to  attack  small  Spanish  posts  and  get  their  arms, 
if  possible,  freeing  every  man  who  would  deliver  them  ; 
Second,  to  cut  all  railway  and  telegraph  lines ;  Third, 
to  keep  on  the  defensive,  and  retreat  in  groups,  unless 
his  men  could  fight  the  enemy  at  great  advantage  ; 
Fourth,  to  destroy  Spanish  forts  or  other  buildings  from 
which  the  foe  had  made  any  resistance  ;  Fifth,  to  de- 
stroy all  sugar-cane  crops  or  mills,  whose  owners  would 
refuse  to  contribute  to  the  Cuban  war  fund  ;  Sixth,  to 


270  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

forbid  the  farmers  to  send  any  food  to  :^be  "■cities  with- 
out paying  certain  taxes.  ,-%--^    --^ 

On  his  part,  Martine^^Gdrrfpos  ordered  :  First,  several 
regiments,  dividad-'iirto  detachments,  to  protect  the 
sugar  esfeates ;  Second,  other  detachments  placed  along 
•the  railroads,  and  on  every  train  in  motion  ;  Third,  an 
attack  always,  unless  the  enemy's  force  be  above  three 
times  the  number  of  the  troops  ;  Fourth,  that  all  rebels 
who  surrender,  except  those  having  the  rank  of  officers, 
be  allowed  to  go  free  and  unmolested  ;  Fifth,  convoys 
of  victuals  sent  to  the  towns  that  needed  them. 

Operations  were  continued  week  after  week,  more 
important  now  in  Camaguey  than  in  Santiago,  for  the 
evident  wish  of  the  insurgents  was  to  move  and  spread 
the  insurrection  toward  the  western  part  of  the  Island. 
Among  the  innumerable  encounters  which  took  place 
during  these  several  months,  there  is  one,  July  12th, 
near  Bayamo,  of  such  celebrity  that  it  is  treated  separ- 
ately, as  a  remarkable  episode  of  arms,  though  indeci- 
sive, like  all  the  combats  in  Cuba. 

About  the  24th  of  August,  the  insurgent  general, 
Carlos  Roloff,  and  a  party  of  old  Cuban  officers,  landed 
near  Tunas  de  Zaza.  They  had  left  Key  West,  Florida. 
The  revolt  had  spread  to  the  Santa  Clara  province,  also 
called  Las  Villas,  whose  inhabitants  were  witnesses  to 
scenes  similar  to  those  with  which  every  one  has  become 
familiar  in  Santiago  and  Puerto  Principe,  but  the 
attack  of  trains  and  destruction  of  property  became 
more  frequent  and  telling,  and  the  provinces  of  Mat- 
anzas,  Havana,  and  Pinar  del  Rio  began  at  last  to  be 
involved  in  and  suffer  from  the  disastrous  struggle. 

Many  fights,  but  no  military  event  of  particular  impor- 
tance, took  place  during  the  months  of  September  and 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  2/1 

October.     Maximo  Gomez  was  making  preparations  for 
the  invasion  of  the  western  provinces. 

The  revolutionary  government  had  been  elected  by 
an  assembly,  composed  of  representatives  sent  by  all 
the  bands  that  were  in  arms.  That  body  deliberated 
for  three  days,  and  elected  the  Marquis  de  Santa  Lucia 
for  president,  and  Bartolome  Masso  for  vice-president. 
Maximo  Gomez  was  confirmed  in  his  office  of  general- 
in-chief  of  the  liberating  army,  and  Antonio  Maceo  as 
general-in-chief  of  the  invading  army. 

C— 16 


2/2  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BATTLE    OF    BAYAMO    AND    RESULTS. 

Campos'  First  Sharp  Check — Spaniards  Much  Shaken  — Severe  and  In- 
teresting Battle — General  Santocildes  Sacrifices  his  Life  to  Save 
that  of  Campos — Maceo  does  not  Permit  his  Sharpshooters  to  Pick 
off  Campos — Maceo's  Humanity  to  the  Wounded. 

Far  the  most  severe  battle  of  the  first  campaign  of  the 
present  war  was  that  in  which  Martinez  Campos  and 
the  rebel  chiefs  were  pitted  against  each  other,  in  July 
last,  near  Bayamo — a  conflict  in  which  was  announced 
to  the  hard-pressed  captain-general  of  Spain,  and  all 
observers  able  to  understand  the  facts,  that  there  was 
^  crisis  in  Cuba.  The  mettle  and  the  method,  the 
power  and  conduct  of  the  insurgents,  were  made  known 
on  that  bloody  field,  to  the  world.  It  was  the  first 
sharp  check  that  Campos  received  and  the  time  when 
he  was  admonished  that  his  part  as  conquering  hero 
was  well  nigh  played  through. 

He  was  in  the  field  with  several  columns  to  attack 
the  Cubans  near  Bayamo  and  left  Manzanillo  with 
1,500  men.  General  Lachambre,  with  about  the  same 
number,  left  Bayamo,  and  General  Valdes  was  moving 
from  the  North  with  2,000  men.  The  Spanish  pursued 
the  usual  course  of  operating  in  detachments — a  policy 
dictated  by  bad  roads,  and  the  cloudy  state  of  the 
Cuban  forces — who  are  like  a  mist  in  the  woods  and 
quick  to  develop  a  storm. 

The  Cubans  got  together  nearly  3,000  men  In  a  posi- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  2/3 

tion  to  prevent  the  union  of  the  gathering  Spaniards 
and  to  strike  them  separately— a  scheme  that  Spanish 
strategy  invited.  Campos  had  the  Isabella,  the  Cath- 
oHc  Battahon,  three  companies  of  the  Sixth  Peninsular 
BattaUon,  one  company  of  engineers  and  two  compa- 
nies of  mounted  guerillas.  The  insurgents  were  drawn 
up  on  a  stock  farm  and  strongly  posted.  There  was 
some  uncertainty  as  to  the  guide  of  the  captain-general, 
an  old  negro,  and  his  column  changed  its  course — it  is 
not  certain  through  advices  or  accident — avoiding  the 
ambuscade  arranged  for  the  general's  column,  the  pur- 
pose being  to  crush  him  with  a  machete  charge.  The 
insurgents  did  not  get  the  Spaniards  as  they  wanted 
them,  and  then  mistook  the  formation  of  the  column, 
which  was  advancing  with  twenty-five  explorers  lead- 
ing, then  General  Santocildes  with  500  men,  then  Cam- 
pos, and  then  a  strong  rear  guard. 

The  insurgents  mistook  the  immediate  command  of 
Santocildes,  who  closely  followed  the  pioneers,  for  that 
of  Campos,  the  centre  of  the  column  which  they  meant 
to  assail  first,  and  then  to  strike  the  rear  guard.  The 
fight  was  partially  on  wooded  hills  and  a  long  and 
bloody  aflfair.  The  firing  was  sharp  on  both  sides,  and 
in  the  midst  of  a  Spanish  charge  General  Santocildes 
was  killed,  and  the  heel  of  Campos'  boot  was  torn  by  a 
bullet.  The  keen  eyes  of  Maceo,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  rebel  cavalry,  perceived  from  the  commo- 
tion that  some  important  Spanish  officer  had  fallen, 
and  was  encouraged  to  make  enthusiastic  efforts  to 
win  decisively.  Campos  at  last  formed  with  his  whole 
force  a  hollow  square,  and  the  horses  and  mules  killed 
and  the  wagons  were  used  as  breastworks.  In  this 
formation    the    struggle  went   on    several    hours  with 


274 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


varying  fortunes,  Campos  personally  directing  the  de- 
fense and  constantly  exposed  to  the  deadly  aim  of 
swarms  of  sharpshooters. 

The  insurgents  tried  early  on  this  field  their  favorite 
stroke  at  the  baggage  train,  with  the  hope  of  getting 
ammunition.    They  are  fond  of  attacking  the  vanguard 
of  the  Spanish  force  in  a  spirited  way,  making  a  real 
assault,   but   not  in  full   force,   while    the  main    body 
moves  on  the  flank,  eluding  observation  if  possible,  and 
when  there  is  the  greatest  possible  diversion,  making  a 
grand  rush  upon  the  rear  guard,  counting  it  the  great- 
est success  to  capture  ammunition.     Maceo  tried  this  at 
Bayamo,  and  recently  repeated   the  operation  at  Pinar 
del  Rio,  avoiding    the    main  body   of  his  enemy  and 
going  for  the  cartridges.     At  Bayamo  the  rear  guard 
fought  its  way  to  the  main  body,  and  completed   the 
Spanish  square.     The  generalship  of  Campos   on   this 
critical   occasion    has    been    highly    commended.     The 
position  which  he  assumed  and  his  personal  presence 
prevented  a  rout,  and  the  Spaniards,  finding  themselves 
able  to  hold  their  ground,  grew  composed,  and  were, 
late  in   the  afternoon,  put  in  motion  toward  Bayamo. 
The  insurgents  made  gallant  efforts  to  break  the  Span- 
ish formation,  and    poured   a  heavy  fire  into  them  on 
their  right  flank  as  they  left  the  field,  keeping  it  up 
until  some  large  buildings  sheltered  the  beaten  column 
of  the  captain-general,  and  late  in  the  evening  the  com- 
bat ceased. 

The  Spaniards  were  this  day  severely  shaken  and 
their  losses  heavy.  The  rebels  claimed  to  have  found 
thirteen  Spanish  officers  killed.  The  Cubans  had  two 
colonels,  Goulet  and  Machedo,  killed,  and  Colonel  Gon- 
gora  wounded.     The    Spanish  loss  is  not   known,   for 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  2/5 

their  official  reports  are  rarely  complete,  and  usually 
highly  colored.  Several  of  the  staff  of  General  Santo- 
cildes  were  killed  and  wounded  ;  and  the  Cubans, 
admitting-  fifty  killed  and  wounded,  claim  that  300 
Spaniards  fell  dead  or  disabled. 

We  have  followed  the  Cuban  account  of  this  action 
closely.  The  Spanish  story  does  not  give  Campos  as 
much  credit  as  he  gets  from  the  Cubans,  but  distin- 
guishes General  Santocildes  as  the  real  hero  of  the  day. 
The  Spaniards  say  : 

On  the  12th  of  July,  Martinez  Campos  left  Manzanillo  for  Bayamo 
with  an  escort  of  400,  and,  while  on  the  road,  other  troops  joined  Cam- 
pos, forming  a  column  1,550  strong,  at  Veguitas.  Campos  proceeded 
with  his  escort  toward  Barrancas,  at  4  o'clock  the  following  morning, 
and  instructed  General  Santocildes  to  leave  for  Bueycitowith  1,150  men. 
Santocildes  did  so,  and  going  faster  than  Campos,  and  following  the 
same  road,  he  almost  overtook  him,  when  Campos  sent  back  one  of  his 
aides  to  remind  Santocildes  that  he  should  march  toward  Bueycito. 
This  happened  for  a  second  time,  and  then  Santocildes  advanced  to 
meet  the  general,  and  said  he  had  not  yet  found  a  certain  road  he  pre- 
ferred to  take.  This  was  a  good  excuse  ;  Campos  evidently  wanted  to 
go  alone,  while  Santocildes  would  neither  allow  that,  or  openly  disobey 
his  instructions  ;  he  knew  there  was  danger.  They  had  been  riding 
together  for  a  short  time,  when  Maceo's  vanguard  opened  fire. 

Maceo  had  called  and  gathered  together  several  bands,  numbering 
nearly  6,000  men,  to  fall  upon  Bayamo,  and  having  learned  that  Campos 
was  going  there  without  an  army,  he  determined  to  take  him  by  surprise. 
The  Spaniards,  in  fact,  were  soon  attacked  from  every  direction,  and 
Santocildes,  at  the  head  of  his  column,  broke  the  enemy's  lines  several 
times,  and  advanced,  only  to  be  encircled  again.  Both  the  regulars  and 
the  rebels  fought  fiercely,  and  in  the  midst  Santocildes  was  killed. 

Campos  then  took  command  of  the  column,  and  continued  his  ad- 
vance, sometime  on  the  defensive  and  sometime  attacking,  until  he 
arrived  at  Bayamo,  as  intended,  about  10  p.m.  The  column  lost  123 
men,  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  insurgents  over  200.  This  encounter 
took  place  near  Peralejo.  It  may  be  said  that  Santocildes  sacrificed  his 
own  life  to  save  that  of  his  friend  and  superior. 


276  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

There  are  many  reports  about  the  personal  fortunes 
of  Campos  on  this  field  ;  one,  an  insurgent  authority,  is 
this  :  "  Campos  only  saved  himself  by  a  ruse.  Taking 
advantage  of  the  Cubans'  well-known  respect  for  the 
wounded,  he  had  himself  placed  in  a  covered  stretcher, 
which  they  allowed  to  pass  without  looki-ng  inside  the 
cover.  When  outside  of  the  Cuban  lines  he  was  ob- 
liged to  walk  on  foot  to  Bayamo,  through  six  miles  of 
by-paths,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  only  accom- 
panied by  his  colored  guide." 

It  must  be  admitted  there  is  a  touch  of  the  extremely 
improbable  about  this,  but  nothing  of  that  nature 
should  daunt  those  who  really  care  to  believe,  and  the 
romance  is  not  a  bad  one. 

There  is  another  story  that  has  had  large  circulation 
in  Cuba,  that  Maceo,  perceiving  Campos  in  the  midst  of 
the  fight,  and  recognizing  him,  pointed  him  out  to  his 
men  and  told  them  not  to  kill  him,  as  he  was  a  soldier 
who  made  war  honorably  !  Still  another  probable  fic- 
tion, but  a  pretty  one,  is  that  a  son  of  Campos,  a  lieu- 
tenant, was  made  prisoner  and  released  with  a  friendly 
message  to  his  father,  who  was  of  course  expected  to 
follow  so  admirable  an  example. 

The  following  letter  from  Maceo  is  consistent  with 
the  Cuban  policy  from  the  first  in  the  treatment  of 
wounded  : 

To  His  Excellency,  The  General  Martinez  Campos. 

Dear  Sir  :  Anxious  to  give  careful  and  efficient  attendance  to  the 
wounded  Spanish  soldiers  that  your  troop?  left  behind  on  the  battle-field, 
I  have  ordered  that  they  be  lodged  in  the  houses  of  the  Cuban  families 
that  live  nearest  to  the  battle  grounds,  until  you  send  for  them. 

With  my  assurance  that  the  forces  you  may  send  to  escort  them  back 
will  not  meet  any  hostile  demonstrations  from  my  soldiers,  I  have  the 
honor  to  be,  sir,  Yours  respectfully,  Antonio  Maceo. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  2 77 

Of  course,  as  the  insurgents  cannot  maintain  hos- 
pitals, they  have  reason  to  set  a  good  precedent  in  the 
treatment  of  the  wounded  ;  but  that  should  not  detract 
from  the  credit  due  them  for  their  undoubted  human- 
ity. Campos,  in  his  reports  to  the  home  government, 
did  not  deny  the  gravity  of  the  situation  at  Bayamo, 
and,  indeed,  got  very  candid  about  his  difficulties  some- 
time before  they  culminated  in  his  retirement,  which 
was  a  confession  of  failure. 


2/8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    MASSACRE    AT    GAUTAO. 

A  Seaside  Breakfast  and  the  Cuban  Flag — The  Road  into  the  Cuban 
Republic — How  the  Rebels  Foraged — The  Gulf  and  the  Sharks — 
The  First  News  of  the  Massacre — The  Tale  of  a  Volunteer  who 
Participated — Eighteen  Pacificos  Killed  to  Two  Soldiers — Marcy 
Reports — Adventures  of  Correspondents — Talk  with  General  Wey- 
ler  on  the  Subject — The  Dismal  Scene  at  the  Palace. 

There  were  continually  in  Havana  last  winter  differ- 
ences of  opinion  as  to  the  reliability  of  rumors  of  bloody 
outrages  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  Each  day 
brought  some  new  tale  of  terror,  and  there  was  a  steady 
current  of  accounts  of  "  battles."  The  Spaniards,  having 
the  inner  line  and  greater  facilities  for  publication,  as  a 
rule  got  out  their  statements  first,  though  at  times  the 
wires  gave  forth  curious  secrets  that,  after  a  time, 
seemed  to  refer  in  some  degree  to  events  that  through 
official  condescension  were  mentioned.  The  magnetic 
affiliations  of  telegraphy  must  have  puzzled  the  oper- 
ators ignorant  of  ciphers  and  innocent  of  schemes.  As 
a  matter  of  course,  the  official  bulletins  were  discredited 
as  to  "  combats." 

The  regular  affair,  in  which  from  five  to  seventeen 
insurgents  were  killed,  and  many  wounded,  and  the 
ground  strewn  with  lost  hats  and  guns  and  dead  horses, 
all  showing  victory  for  the  government,  while  the  Span- 
iards lost  a  horse  or  two,  and  had  two  men  wounded, 
and  closed  the  struggle  with  a  bayonet  charge,  became 
a  common  grievance. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  2/9 

Occasionally  there  would  be  signs,  and  much  matter 
printed,  of  a  fight,  in  which  some  persons  were  hurt, 
and  there  were  participants  and  localities  named,  so 
that  when  the  news  came  by  grapevine,  we  could 
formally  identify  the  "  engagements,"  but  there  was 
hardly  ever  found  a  show  of  resemblance  between  the 
respective  histories  of  the  conflicting  sides.  There  was 
much  wretchedness  uncovered  here  and  there,  frequent 
hard  cases  of  impoverished  millionaires,  estates  visited 
by  hostile  bands,  cane  fields  fired,  houses  and  villages 
burned,  machinery  broken,  and  assassinations  on  the 
road. 

One  of  the  things  repeated  so  often  that  it  became 
difficult  to  consent  to  the  opinion  that  it  had  any  foun- 
dation, was,  that  there  came  into  a  small  village  a  troop 
of  rebels,  who  helped  themselves  to  whatever  they  re- 
quired, or  that  took  their  fancy,  especially  groceries 
and  preserved  meats  and  articles  of  clothing.  When 
the  place  had  been  ransacked  the  intruders  would  de- 
part, and  then  came  the  Spaniards,  enraged  that  their 
enemies  had  found  supplies,  and  they  would  say:  "  Oh, 
you  have  had  scoundrels  here,  have  you,  and  you  fed 
them  ;  you  gave  them  all  you  had,  eh  ?"  The  answer 
was,  "  They  took  what  they  would;  I  could  not  help  it. 
They  carried  away  my  property.  I  was  robbed,  that 
was  all."  Then  came,  "  You  had  them  come,  and  you 
did  not  fight.  You  helped  them,  and  you  are  rebels, 
too,  and  cowards  also;  there,  then;"  and  "  bang !  bang  !  " 
went  the  guns,  and  the  people  were  killed  because  they 
had  been  robbed. 

There  were  four  men  at  a  plantation.  The  rebels 
came  along,  and  took  the  horses  and  corn  and  cattle. 
Then  came  the  Spaniards,  and  said,  "  Aha !  you  gave 


28o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Up  everything  to  the  scoundrels,  so  then  you  will  not 
fight  them,"  and  it  was  "  bang  !  bang  !  "  again,  and  the 
four  men  were  dead.  There  was  an  innocent  American 
citizen,  fitted  with  a  romantic  Spanish  name,  a  gentle- 
man, rather  dark  and  excitable,  speaking  no  English  at 
all,  and  never  known  to  be  out  of  the  Island,  but  fully 
equipped  with  naturalization  papers  of  citizenship  in 
Florida;  and  the  Spaniards,  finding  that  he  had  been 
visited  by  rebels,  called  and  beat  him  and  robbed  his 
house  and  stables — and  there  was  a  case  for  the  Amer- 
ican consul — and  there  were  darker  stories  of  murders, 
and  worse  than  murders,  and  the  sincere  seeker  for 
truth  was  perplexed  in  the  extreme. 

One  thing  only  was  certain.  There  was  a  flood  of 
misfortune  rolling  over  the  golden  Island,  the  torrent 
was  sweeping  away  plantations,  towns,  families — where 
there  had  been  wealth  there  was  poverty — and  the  dark 
desolating  waters  reflecting  fires  were  tinged  with  blood 
and  rising  higher  and  spreading  wider  were  merciless 
as  the  deluge.  The  soldiers  marched  in  the  street,  and 
the  roll  of  drums  told  of  their  progress.  The  red  and 
yellow  flags  decked  the  balconies  and  streamed  from 
the  towers,  and  the  children  danced  at  night  to  the 
mellow  strains  of  a  band  from  Andalusia,  the  dark 
eyes  of  beauty  gazing  out  with  anxiety,  flashed  at  the 
windows  guarded  by  bars  of  steel. 

The  coming  of  the  new  captain-general  was  a  horror. 
"There  is  no  one  man  or  woman  safe  in  this  Island  with 
this  man  here— Oh  !  Why  do  not  the  dead  of  the  long 
war  rise  from  their  graves  to  fight  ?  "  was  the  cry  of  a 
woman  despairing  for  herself,  her  family,  and  her 
country. 

The  clouds  came  up  from  the  Caribbean  Sea,  majestic 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  28 1 

in  their  g-loom  and  poured  rivers  over  the  city,  and 
the  sun  and  the  wind  came  and  the  mud  was  dust 
again.  Troops  arrived  from  Spain  and  saw  rockets 
flaring  and  heard  the  guns  of  Moro,  and  flowers  were 
thrown,  and  birds,  adorned  with  ribbons,  were  flung  by 
fair  hands  from  windows  into  the  ranks.  Marching  up 
from  the  wharf  from  which  Cortez  sailed  for  Mexico 
and  conquered  Montezuma,  and  De  Soto  embarked  for 
Florida  and  discovered  the  Mississippi — the  little  temple 
and  big  tree  on  the  spot  where  the  first  mass  was  said 
in  the  Americas  on  one  hand,  and  the  palace  of  the  cap- 
tain-generals on  the  other — were  the  dusky  boys  of  Spain, 
the  bayonets  twinkling  over  them.  The  cries  of  the 
newsboys  are  heard  in  the  streets  with  "  Extras,"  and 
the  Cubans  in  their  own  way  interpret  the  Spanish 
sheets,  and  who  shall  know  what  is  so,  and  who  shall 
tell  that  the  truth  is  here  when  he  sees  or  hears  that 
which  is  the  fact  or  fancy  of  the  hour  ? 

It  was  a  sunny  Sunday  morning  and  I  was  invited  to 
go  to  breakfast  twelve  miles  away — down  the  road  to 
Marianao — not  then  so  well  known  as  now,  and  from 
that  charming  suburb  by  a  prong  of  roads  that  slanted 
westward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  I  had  visited  Mari- 
anao before,  another  lovely  day,  and  walked  beyond 
where  there  was  a  bright  deep  stream  that  they  call  a 
river,  and  stood  upon  the  gigantic  mass  of  stone  arches, 
a  bridge  that  would  have  passed  in  Europe  as  one  of 
the  mighty  works  of  the  Romans.  This  was  the  fron- 
tier; cattle  were  grazing  in  the  valley,  boys  were  fishing 
with  little  scoop  nets  on  poles;  there  were  cocoanut 
palms  and  orange  trees  hanging  over  fences  of  wild 
pine  trimmed  with  the  machete;  there  were  little  forts 
in  conspicuous  places,  and  the  porch  of  a  large  house 


282  "^HE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

at  the  corner  looking  toward  the  bridge  was  walled 
with  sand  bags,  and  volunteers  walking  about  with 
glittering  rifles,  and  on  a  spire  was  a  look-out  with  a 
glass,  with  ceaseless  vigilance  watching  all  the  ap- 
proaches. But  I  need  not  have  been  surprised,  for  I 
had  seen  the  Treasury  Building  at  Washington  barri- 
caded and  guarded  by  many  loaded  rifles.  At  Mari- 
anao  there  were  trees  in  bloom,  and  hanging  over  the 
side  of  a  noble  residence  was  a  wondrous  sheet  of 
flowers,  rich  in  color — looking  like  a  matchless  drop- 
curtain  in  a  gorgeous  theatre,  too  radiant  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  mortals. 

It  was  over  the  huge  bridge,  spanning  the  small 
stream,  that  the  volunteers  and  firemen  and  a  company 
of  Spanish  regulars  marched  a  few  days  later — on  the 
night  before  I  set  out  for  that  neighborhood  to  break- 
fast by  the  sea — to  the  village  of  Punta  Brava  and  the 
further  village  of  Gautao,  where  a  tragedy,  of  which 
the  world  has  heard,  took  place.  The  sun  was  hot  that 
Sunday  morning  on  the  white  shore  and  coral  rocks 
and  the  snowy  surf  and  the  shining  waters,  each  wave 
crested  with  jewels  of  incomparable  splendor  that  van- 
ished in  the  exquisite  sand. 

Before  we  sat  down  to  breakfast,  a  gentleman  who 
lived  in  the  vicinity  said,  "  We  had  our  friends,  the 
enemy,  with  us  here  last  night.  They  came  in  and  were 
all  around  us,  and  helped  themselves  to  hams  and 
chickens.  They  were  quiet  fellows  and  behaved  fairly 
well,  were  rather  hungry  though,  and  those  about  very 
early  this  morning  wanted  coffee  above  all  things. 
One  was  suspected  of  milking  a  cow  ! " 

"  You  refer  to  the  insurgents,  of  course  ? " 

"  Yes,  they  go  about  freely,  and  there  is  not  anybody 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  283 

to  molest  them  ;  no  troops,  no  firemen,  no  police.  This 
is  a  free  country." 

"  How  far  is  it  to  where  there  is  a  position  that  they 
hold."  This  question  was  mine.  "Come  with  me  to 
the  top  of  the  house,  and  I  will  show  you  their  flag  ;  " 
and  we  ascended  to  the  roof,  the  citizen  carrying  a  big 
spy-glass,  with  which  I  was  directed  to  scan  a  hill  a 
couple  of  miles  southwest,  and  there  was  a  flag  sure 
enough,  but  from  the  way  the  wind  was  blowing  the 
folds  I  could  not  make  it  out  further  than  to  be  sure  it 
was  not  the  flag  of  Spain. 

"What  do  you  call  the  boundary  between  the  ground 
held  by  the  opposing   forces?" 

"You  see  the  bridge  there,"  pointing  to  one  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  distant  across  the  same  stream  that  flows 
under  the  walls  of  Marianao  and  through  the  colossal 
arch  said  tQ  be  a  monument  to  slave  labor,  "that bridge 
may  be  called  neutral  territory." 

"  How  far  beyond  is  it  supposed  one  would  have  to 
walk  to  meet  the  gentlemen  who  want  to  be  recognized 
as  belligerents?  " 

"That  depends.  The  sand  is  deep  on  the  road  and 
there  is  not  much  shade,  but  walk  that  way  and  you 
can  probably  find  yourself  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
Cuban  government  half  a  mile  from  this.  I  can  war- 
rant your  meeting  a  picket  half  a  mile  over  the  bridge. 
There  are  but  a  few,  say  ten,  with  good  horses  and 
guns,  and  where  you  see  the  flag  there  are  about  fifty, 
and  half  an  hour's  walk  beyond,  fifty  more,  and  so  on 
all  the  roads.  If  there  is  a  main  body  it  is  four  or  five 
miles  away.  They  do  not  do  much  shooting,  for  they 
have  very  little  ammunition,  and  are  ordered  to  spend 
no  cartridges  unless  the  shooting  is  good." 


284  ^'^^  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"This  would  be  rather  a  clever  side  road  into  the 
region  of  the  rebellion,  would  it  not  ?  What  is  to  hin- 
der the  Havana  men  who  want  to  join  the  army  from 
doing  it  right  here  ?  "•  "  Nothing."  ' '  Why  do  they  not 
come  this  way,  then?"  "Cannot  say.  Maybe  they 
do."  "  Why  do  not  the  Spaniards,  who  take  so  much 
pains  in  many  places,  guard  this  line?"  The  answer 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  Spaniard,  unless  stirred  up, 
was  rather  stupidly  a  disbeliever  in  danger. 

The  long  white  slope  up  which  the  surf  flashed,  one 
curling  line  of  snow  succeeding  another  with  regular 
pulsations,  and  the  delicate  greens  and  blues  of  the 
deep  glowing  in  the  sunlight,  suggested  a  bath  and  a 
question  about  sharks,  and  it  appeared  that  the  biters 
were  unpopular  visitors  to  that  part  of  the  coast.  But 
owing  to  the  precautions  that  are  Cuban  and  effective, 
there  had  not  for  several  years  been  fatal  accidents. 

There  was  a  charming  breakfast,  that  was  concluded 
about  I  o'clock,  and  then  came  a  sudden  sensation,  a 
painful  surprise.  There  had  been  a  massacre  just  over 
the  hills  to  the  left,  beyond  Marianao;  an  incursion  of 
the  rebels  as  far  as  Punta  Brava,  and  near  that  village 
was  the  small  place  Gautao.  One  of  the  young  men 
employed  at  the  house  where  we  breakfasted  had 
been  engaged  in  the  affair  as  a  member  of  a  volunteer 
company,  and  returned  to  his  duties,  was  telling  of  the 
bloody  business.  His  story  was  that  news  came  to 
Marianao  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy  at  Punta  Brava, 
and  the  volunteers  and  firemen  were  rushed  to  the 
scene  of  the  presence  of  the  insurgents,  who,  not  expect- 
ing so  much  heartiness  of  movement,  were  surprised,  but 
finding  themselves  outnumbered,  took  refuge  in  the 
houses,  where  they  were  pursued,  and   the  general  re- 


I.    CUBANS    IN    AMBUSH.  2.    SPANISH    VOLUNTEER. 

3.    A    TYPICAL    FORT. 


(XJNIVERSITT, 
CALIFORNIA 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  287 

suit  was  twenty  dead  men.  The  officer  I  saw  was  one 
who  had  collected  the  bodies,  and  of  the  twenty  only 
two  were  certainly  of  the  insurgent  forces — the  rest 
were  Pacificos,  or  townsmen,  non-combatants. 

There  was  general  interest  and  intense  feeling"  in 
Havana  about  the  slaughter  at  first  associated  with 
Marianao  then  with  Punta  Brava,  and  finally  with 
Gautao,  the  actual  location  of  the  killing.  The  Cubans 
were  exceedingly  agitated,  and  their  bitterness  was 
fierce  in  proportion  as  it  was  suppressed.  The  Span- 
iards regarded  the  incident  as  a  victory.  They  had 
the  mitigation,  certainly,  that  the  insurgents  had  been 
trotting  in  and  out  of  the  villages,  and  some  of  them 
had  been  caught  there  and  found  shelter  in  the  frail 
houses — the  dwellings  of  poor  people.  There  could  be 
no  reasonable  doubt,  however,  of  the  character  of  the 
tragedy. 

The  force  of  troops  that  advanced  from  Marianao, 
under  the  commandant  at  that  post,  was  too  strong  to 
be  in  peril  from  any  band  of  insurgents  within  half  a 
day's  ride,  and  it  was  not  necessary  to  secure  the  actual 
fighting  men  present  that  assaults  upon  all  suspected 
houses  should  be  made.  As  soon  as  the  attack  in 
support  of  the  search  was  opened,  the  ferocity  of  blood- 
hounds was  exhibited  by  the  troops.  They  were  in 
an  ungovernable  frenzy,  and  regarded  the  villagers 
as  sympathetic  with  the  rebels,  as  they  no  doubt 
were,  for  they  all  are,  and  the  miserables  were  vindic- 
tively killed  in  their  homes,  some  sick  and  helpless  in 
bed.  There  was  no  restraining  discipline  and  no  qual- 
ity of  mercy.  When  the  end  came  the  dead  were 
gathered,  and  there  were  twenty  bloody  corpses,  only 
two  men  claimed  by  the  soldiers  who  had  slain  them 


288  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

to  have  died  with  arms  in  their  hands.  There  were 
rumors  that  had  circulation,  that  happily  were  not  veri- 
fied, that  several  women  had  been  killed,  and  that 
others  had  been  stripped  of  their  clothing  on  the  pre- 
tense that  they  might  be  rebel  soldiers  in  disguise  ! 
On  the  subject  of  this  butchery  I  happened  to  have 
information  from  original  sources,  and  the  time  has  not 
come  to  give  all  the  testimony,  and  how  it  was  ob- 
tained, for  there  are  still  chances  for  other  hearts  to 
bleed. 

Two  American  newspaper  men,  who  have  not  had  the 
full  credit  their  courage  and  enterprise  merit,  passed 
through  the  lines  and  visited  the  streets  and  houses  where 
the  bloodshed  took  place,  and  found  the  worst  rumors — 
save  those  regarding  the  women — to  be  true  ;  and  they 
ascertained  the  names  of  nine  of  the  victims.  The  same 
names,  and  two  additional,  were  furnished  me  on  a  mys- 
terious scrap  of  paper  from  the  bloody  village,  and  there 
were  other  particulars  of  confirmation  altogether  conclu- 
sive. There  was  no  fact  that  appeared  suggesting  an  ex- 
cuse for  the  slaughter,  except  that  there  were  insurgents 
in  the  village.  The  Marquis  de  Cervera,  the  commandant 
of  Marianao,  made  a  report  of  his  victory,  and  the  fact 
that  one  Spaniard  had  been  mortally  and  one  sHghtly 
wounded,  was  held  sufficient  to  prove  that  there  had 
been  a  "  combat ;  "  and  the  marquis  was  duly  congrat- 
ulated upon  his  gallant  achievement.  In  a  personal  in- 
terview with  Captain  -  General  Weyler,  I  asked  him 
whether  he  proposed  to  investigate  the  Gautao  inci- 
dent for  his  own  satisfaction,  and  his  reply  was,  with 
an  air  of  surprise,  that  the  affair  had  been  officially 
reported,  and  he  was  aware  there  had  been  a  "  com- 
bat."    Afterward,  there  came  from  Marianao  the  moth- 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY.  289 

ers,  wives  and  sisters  of  "  the  Pacificos  "  who  had  been 
murdered.  They  filled  a  railroad  car,  and  crowded 
the  anteroom  in  the  palace — as  dreary  and  wretched  a 
spectacle  as  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  the  course  of 
this  horrible  war.  The  women  bore  in  their  deep-lined 
faces  the  stamp  of  their  agony.  They  were  plainly  the 
people  of  poverty,  but  had  the  respectability  of  neat- 
ness, and  the  gloomy  expression  of  hopeless  sorrow 
fixed  upon  them  all  was  something  dreadful. 

The  reason  of  speaking  so  fully  of  this  is,  that  the  place 
was  well  known  in  Havana — a  suburb  near  the  sea,  and 
beautifully  situated,  familiar  to  the  whole  city — and  the 
people  for  miles  around  Punta  Brava  and  Gautao  were 
so  terrified  by  the  conduct  of  thq  troops  that  they  fled 
to  Marianao  and  to  Havana,  where  they  were  sheltered, 
so  far  as  possible,  by  friends,  and  told  their  straight- 
forward stories,  some  of  which  were  taken  down,  word 
for  word,  and  furnished  me,  and  I  did  not  publish  them, 
and  do  not  now,  because  some  bereaved  woman  might 
have  to  suffer  for  her  word  spoken  in  the  excitement  of 
terror,  and  perhaps  of  inability  to  realize  the  proportion 
of  circumstances.  If  one  should  even  say  what  the 
humble,  honest  occupation  was  of  one  who  mourned 
her  dead,  she  would  be  designated,  and  there  might  be 
some  scamp  hateful  enough  to  repeat  and  distort  the 
communication  that  she  unwittingly  gave  American 
correspondents,  and  additional  suffering  for  her  because 
she  had  spoken  freely  to  those  who  reported  her,  for 
the  sake  of  the  truth.  The  evidence  is  abundant.  The 
panic  that  seized  the  peasantry  of  the  district  stained 
with  innocent  blood,  was  not  propagated  by  the  news- 
papers— for  the  fugitives  acted   not  on  what  they  had 

read,  but  upon  their  own  knowledge.     They  were  like 
C-17 


290  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

deer  escaping  from  wolves.  There  have  been  hundreds 
of  reports  of  dreadful  deeds — murders  by  regular 
troops,  by  insurgents,  by  bandits — the  innocent  "  Pa- 
cificos  "  perishing  because,  perhaps,  those  engaged  in 
war  resisted  successfully,  and  the  shedding  of  blood 
seemed  in  itself  to  supply  a  military  want. 

Cuba  is  full  of  tales  resembling  that  of  Gautao,  but 
far  the  greater  number  are  beyond  the  range  of  inves- 
tigation, and  this  bloody  picture  is  painted  to  a  finish, 
because  it  is  typical,  and  touches  up  with  the  light  of 
reality  the  darkness  of  the  horror-haunted  Island. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  29 1 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

HORRORS    OF    MORO    CASTLE. 

A  Newspaper  Correspondent  Arbitrarily  Arrested — A  Night  and  Two 
Days  in  an  Ugly  Dungeon — Neglect  of  Prisoners — A  Case  of  Mis- 
taken Identity — Released,  but  Apology  not  Made — The  Claim  of 
Clemency,  not  Justice,  Insisted  Upon — The  Exclusive  Society  of 
Gray  Rats  Not  Agreeable. 

Charles  Michelson,  a  well-known  journalist  of  Cal- 
ifornia, was  one  of  the  enterprising^  and  lively  young 
men  in  Havana,  engaged  in  newspaper  correspondence, 
and  rather  fretful  that  we  had  to  defer  so  much  to  the 
caprices  of  the  military  censorship.  He  suddenly  had 
the  experience  of  a  military  arrest,  and  found  himself  a 
prisoner  in  Moro  Castle,  without  liberty  to  communi- 
cate with  friends. 

The  Monday  morning  after  the  massacre  near  Punta 
Brava,  which  is  fourteen  miles  southwest  of  Havana, 
Michelson  with  his  interpreter,  Lorenzo  Betoncourt, 
started  out  to  investigate.  At  Marianao,  the  end  of 
the  run  by  cars,  Michelson  took  the  reasonable  precau- 
tion to  ask  the  commandant,  who  happened  to  be  a  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  for  authorization  to  go  to  the  scene 
of  the  "combat."  He  was  unexpectedly  refused,  and 
therefore  did  not  go  forward,  but  gathered  the  essen- 
tial facts  from  fugitives. 

That  night  we  parted  at  midnight,  going  to  our 
respective  rooms  in  the  same  hotel,  and  it  was  a  sur- 
prise in  the  morning  to  find  he  had  been  captured  by 


292  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  military  police.  The  next  news  was  of  the  arrest 
of  Betoncourt  and  the  transfer  of  the  prisoners  in  sep- 
arate boats  to  Moro  Castle,  where  they  were  placed  in 
separate  cells.  They  were  thus  hustled  into  solitary 
confinement,  rated  as  prisoners  "  i7i  comuno  cadoT  It 
was  difficult  to  learn  upon  what  charge  the  arrest  had 
been  made,  but  late  in  the  afternoon  the  wild  romance 
was  officially  given  out  that  Michelson's  crimes  were 
communicating  with  the  enemy  and  assaulting  the 
guards.  We  have  explained  what  the  first  part  of  the 
charge  amounted  to  ;  the  second,  that  of  doing  violence 
to  sacred  officers,  was  pure  fiction. 

The  American  correspondents  found  it  difficult  at 
first  to  see  in  the  arrest  of  Michelson  the  seriousness  of 
the  incident,  for  it  is  the  privilege  of  freedom  to  smile 
at  despotism,  and  the  proceedings  they  generally  knew 
were  on  a  charge  based  on  a  case  of  mistaken  identity  ; 
but  the  Cuban  friends  of  Betoncourt,  who  is  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States,  were  deeply  alarmed  and  dis- 
tressed, and  the  lines  of  old  sorrows  were  on  their 
faces.  That  one  dear  to  them  is  in  Moro  Castle  is  of 
awful  significance  to  Cubans. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  see  a  distinguished  official 
in  Havana  before  his  1 1  o'clock  breakfast,  and  this  day 
the  governor-general  drove  out  to  call,  and  it  was  5 
o'clock  before  Consul-General  Williams  got  an  audi- 
ence. General  Weyler's  smile  of  welcome  was  cut 
sharply  as  the  grave  tones  of  the  American  consul  fell 
on  his  ear.  Mr.  Williams  put, the  matter  forcibly,  sure 
that  it  was  a  simple  and  clear  case.  The  captain-gen- 
eral's reply  was  that  he  would  be  very  glad  if  the  mat- 
ter turned  out  as  represented,  and  he  would  order  the 
case  investigated  immediately. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


293 


It  is  an  Interesting  illustration  of  the  use  of  language 
that  when  the  report  was  made  to  Michelson,  in  his  cell, 
that  his  case  should  not  be  delayed,  it  was  put  that 
there  was  to  be  a  "summary  proceeding,"  and  the  idea 
of  that  sort  of  "  proceeding"  in  Moro  Castle  is  closely  asso- 
ciated in  the  American  mind  with  shooting  on  the  spot. 
In  a  second  call  by  the  consul-general  on  the  captain- 
general,  he  said  there  would  be  no  time  lost  in  reach- 
ing a  decision,  and  after  a  few  hours  watching  and 
waiting,  in  walked  the  "  captive  set  free "  and,  with 
other  correspondents,  we  had  a  celebration. 

It  was  my  intention  to  leave  for  New  York  on  Thurs- 
day, and  as  Michelson  was  to  wait  in  Havana,  I  wished 
to  give  him  a  "  send  off  "  at  the  palace,  and  turn  over 
as  much  good  will  as  might  be  transferred.  Also  it 
was  proper  he  should  see  the  captain-general  and  thank 
him  for  his  "summary  proceedings."  Our  first  call  was 
upon  the  accomplished  marquis,  the  secretary  of  the 
government.  The  marquis  was  sorry  I  was  going, 
and  generous  in  compliments.  Did  the  marquis  think 
the  captain-general  could  be  seen  then?  As  I  wanted 
to  pay  respects  and  take  leave — why,  the  captain-gen- 
eral might  be  seen,  and  the  marquis  saw  him  for  us 
and  in  a  minute  returned,  saying  his  excellency  would 
see  us  at  once.  There  was  noticed  somethinof  odd  on 
the  face  of  the  marquis  as  he  came  back  to  take  us  to 
the  general — something  of  amusement — almost  appre- 
hensiveness — and  as  we  reached  the  floor  of  the  picture 
gallery  and  paused  standing,  in  a  flash  the  general 
came  through  a  little  door,  making,  what  the  actors 
call,  a  very  effective  entry  !  There  was  no  acting  about 
this — it  meant  business — a  real  life  scene.  The  inter- 
preter said,  as  the  general  shook  hands  briefly  with  me, 


294 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


and  looked  around  with  a  spark  in  his  eye,  that  I  had 
called  to  pay  my  respects  and  take  leave.  That  the 
general  had  something  on  his  mind  was  plain  in  his 
fixed  jaw  and  fiery  eye,  but  he  bowed  in  recognition  of 
the  call  (my  P.  P.  C.  as  it  were)  and  Michelson's  thanks 
were  to  be  the  very  next  thing,  for  evidently  there  was 
to  be  no  time  lost,  and  there  was  a  chill  in  the  air.  The 
general  knew  Michelson  was  in  the  group,  singled  him 
out  and  "spoke  right  out  in  meeting,"  saying  he  had 
ordered  his  release  and  that  of  his  interpreter,  though 
he  knew  their  guilt !  The  testimony  was  positive  and 
conclusive,  and  the  release  was  granted  solely  on  the 
grounds  of  personal  regard  for  his  friends  and  friend- 
ship and  favor  for  the  American  people  ;  and  all  should 
understand  this  was  a  signal  instance  not  of  justice  but 
of  clemency. 

This  speech  hardly  needed  interpretation.  It  was 
peremptory,  harsh,  menacing,  absolute — such  a  speech 
as  Junius  Brutus  Booth,  the  elder,  might,  in  the  height 
of  his  power,  have  delivered.  I  shook  my  head  as  the 
language  was  rendered,  attempting  to  convey  a  strong 
negative  and  saying,  "  Your  excellency  believes  false 
testimony.  It  is  an  illusion."  How  fully  this  was  in- 
terpreted I  do  not  know,  for  the  interpreter  was  in- 
terrupted sharply  by  the  impetuous  general,  and 
Michelson  was  assured  that  the  falsity  of  his  represen- 
tation was  known,  aye  !  proven,  and  yet  he  was  al- 
lowed to  go  free  !  It  must  be  understood  that  he  was 
guilty  and  discharged  through  favor  and  mercy ! 
Michelson  spoke  to  the  purpose,  saying,  he  would  like  to 
meet  the  men  who  accused  him.  The  captain-general 
seemed  surprised,  and  Michelson  was  assured  that  he 
would  have  a  chance  to  confront  those  who  testified. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  295 

In  a  moment  the  captain-general's  departure  at  the  side 
scene  was  as  effective  as  his  entry.  The  explanatory 
truth  is,  two  young  men  who  did  not  suppose  there 
would  be  any  objection  to  going  on  from  Marianao  to 
the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  and  did  not  imagine  that  the 
territory  traversed  daily  by  a  licensed  coach,  which 
they  took  in  good  faith  to  go  and  come — and  did  go 
and  come  in  it — was  believed  by  the  commandant  to 
be  the  men  who  applied  for  a  permit  and  were  refused. 
It  was  his  testimony  the  captain-general  held  with  heat 
to  be  indisputable ;  and  his  anger  burned  fiercely  to 
think  Michelson  dared  defy  the  military  order — which 
he  had  not  done — and  neither  did  the  two  correspond- 
ents, who  did  not  know  the  marquis  and  asked  him  no 
questions. 

Michelson's  account  of  his  arrest  is  that  there  was  a 
thumping  on  his  door  at  1:30  a.  m.,  and  eight  persons, 
in  uniform,  entered,  and  there  were  soldier  police  on 
the  sidewalk  and  in  the  hall.  His  room  was  searched, 
and  his  photographic  apparatus  was  a  great  curiosity, 
and  seemed  to  be  regarded  as  an  implacable  enemy ; 
and  their  lack  of  knowledge  was  in  evidence  by  the  fact 
the  officers  held  the  undeveloped  film  to  the  light  in  an 
endeavor  to  see  what  pictures  Michelson  had  taken. 
This,  of  course,  destroyed  the  negatives.  Michelson  was 
seated  at  his  own  table  to  make  a  statement  of  what 
he  had  been  doing  on  Feb.  24th,  and  his  statements, 
perfectly  true,  were  heard  with  jocular  incredulity. 

The  search  over,  he  was  taken  to  the  police  office, 
where  he  caused  one  man  to  laugh  when  the  guard  was 
relieved,  by  suggesting  that  he  also  wanted  relief.  An- 
other of  the  guards  refused  to  laugh,  "  scratched  his 
chin  with  a  bayonet,  but  accepted  a  cigarette." 


296  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Just  at  dawn  an  officer  came,  and  the  words,  ''A  el 
Moro"  were  heard.  This  order  to  take  him  to  the  castle 
sounded  serious.  With  soldiers  behind,  before,  and  on 
each  side  of  him,  he  was  marched  through  the  streets 
to  the  water,  as  if  he  had  been  a  dangerous  chief.  He 
was  taken  to  the  other  shore,  and  marched  up  to  the 
ugly  entrance  of  the  hoary,  grimy  castle,  and  stood 
in  the  gloomy,  arched  doorway  until  they  were  ready 
to  take  him  to  the  cell,  an  arch  of  huge  masonry,  a  ceil- 
ing of  beams,  damp  with  moisture  that  had  risen  from 
prisoners  for  many  years,  the  whitewashed  walls 
scrawled  upon  and  smeared.  A  window  high  up  in  the 
arch,  barred  so  that  a  squirrel  could  not  slip  through 
the  irons,  or  an  elephant  break  the  bars,  and  that  was 
all.     No  cot  :  not  even  a  blanket  or  a  chair. 

But  he  had  company  enough  of  a  certain  sort,  For  his 
entrance  scattered  a  crowd  of  cockroaches,  and  as  they 
ran  into  the  rotten  cracks,  he  heard  the  shuffling  and  the 
squealing  of  rats.  Too  tired  to  think,  too  wretched  to 
dream,  he  threw  his  overcoat  down  on  the  cleanest  spot 
he  could  find,  and  fell  asleep  for  an  hour  or  two.  When 
he  woke  he  was  hungry  and  very  thirsty,  but  no  amount 
of  kicking  on  the  cell  door,  and  by  no  noise  could  he 
attract  the  attention  of  the  soldiers,  so  he  tramped 
around  the  cell  until  he  was  weary  and  worried,  and,  as 
he  says  :  "  I  realized  that  if  I  began  to  be  nervous  in 
that  place  so  soon  that  the  horrors  could  not  be  far  off. 
I  finally  went  over  and  corrected  the  askewness  of  the 
eyes  of  the  face  of  a  man  which  some  poor  devil  had 
drawn,  but  that  was  when  I  had  reached  the  point  when 
any  employment,  no  matter  how  trivial,  was  a  luxury. 
It  was  cross-eyed  and  annoyed  me." 

The  window,  ten   feet   above  the  ground,  interested 


(  OF  THE 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  299 

him,  and  the  marks  were  there  of  the  feet  of  the  many 
prisoners  who  had  clambered  up  there,  and  by  crouch- 
ing at  the  bars,  got  the  total  of  their  daily  pleasure  in 
the  sight  of  the  world  without. 

He,  too,  climbed  up.  The  view  was  fine,  but  a  guard 
ran  up  from  outside,  and  poked  at  him  with  his  bayo- 
net. As  an  amusement,  during  all  that  day,  he  watched 
the  chances  to  clamber  up  again,  and  get  down  before 
the  man  with  the  bayonet  could  reach  him.  He  tried 
the  blandishments  of  small  silver,  cigars  and  cigarettes, 
but  was  not  permitted  to  look  out  of  the  window,  and 
he  tried  to  buy  a  lead  pencil,  but  was  told  that  prison- 
ers "  in  comuno  cado  "  were  not  permitted  to  write,  and 
he  asked  for  a  book,  or  something  to  read,  but  was  told 
that  prisoners  were  not  permitted  to  read. 

He  counted  the  number  of  boards  in  the  floor,  there 
were  twenty-six  ;  and  the  number  of  beams  in  the  ceiling, 
there  were  fourteen  ;  and  the  number  of  bars  in  the  win- 
dow. The  changing  of  the  guard  was  a  sensational 
incident,  and  about  noon  (he  had  had  nothing  to  eat  or 
drink  since  the  evening  before)  they  brought  him  a  tin 
basin  full  of  soldiers'  soup  and  beans,  and  a  coal-oil  can 
full  of  water.  The  soup  was  strong  and  scummy,  and 
the  can  had  been  so  recently  emptied  of  its  original  con- 
tents that  there  was  a  film  of  oil  over  the  top  of  it.  He 
said  :  "Before  dark  I  was  glad  of  the  excitement  of  sit- 
ting very  still,  and  waiting  breathlessly  to  see  if  an  old 
rat,  whose  head  I  had  caught  sight  of  peeking  through 
a  crack,  would  come  out.  I  spent  the  hours  before  I 
could  go  to  sleep,  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  head  that  rat 
off  from  the  hole,  and  when  at  last  I  closed  my  eyes 
there  on  the  floor,  with  my  overcoat  for  bed  and  cov- 
ering, it  was  after  the  longest  day  I  had  ever  spent. 


TTNIVERSIT'I 


300  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA.        /     3.. 

"  Of  course,  I  could  not  sleep  the  nighrthrough.  The 
half-hourly  cry  of  *  sentinel  alerta,'  was  interesting  at 
first,  but  I  got  to  hate  the  cry  before  morning,  and 
morning  was  a  long  time  coming 

"  In  one  sound  sleep  I  was  startled  iato  wakefulness 
by  what  I  thought  was  a  hand  upon  my  face.  It  was 
not  a  hand,  it  was  my  old  friend,  the  big  gray  rat,  cu- 
rious about  my  hair." 

The  silver  scattered  had  some  efffe'ct,  for  at  day- 
light a  cup  of  coffee  came — a  rare  favor.  This  second 
day  it  was  the  same  thing  over  again.  He  inspected 
the  cell,  counted  the  boards,  wished  that  the  guards 
would  change  oftener,  took  long  walks  around  his 
cell — in  one  stretch  140  rounds — and  tied  wonderful 
knots  with  a  piece  of  twine  that  came  around  his  break- 
fast ;  and  scratching  his  name  and  the  date  with  a  rusty 
nail  was  another  pleasurable  employment. 

The  two  days  were  eternity,  and  yet  he  was  well 
treated,  compared  with  his  interpreter,  who  passed  his 
first  night  in  a  fouler  cell  than  Michelson's,  and  had 
been  bound.  If  there  was  humor  in  this  transaction, 
Michelson  did  not  at  once  appreciate  it.  If  it  was  a 
joke,  it  was  grim. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBER'IY.  30I 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    SECOND    YEAR    OF    THE    SECOND    WAR. 

The  Condition  of  the  Country  Approaching  the  Second  Rainy  Season 
of  the  Struggle — Why  the  War-Cry  went  forth  in  February — The 
Sagacity  of  Gomez  in  Choosing  Time  and  Place — Preparing  for  his 
Remarkable  Campaign — The  Policy  of  Destruction — Why  it  was 
Adopted — The  Way  the  Spaniards  are  Retaliating — Cuba  Laid  Waste 
by  Both  Combatants — War,  Pestilence  and  Famine — The  Terrible 
Privations  and  Distress  of  the  People. 

There  have  been  many  wars  in  and  about  and  around 
Cuba,  but  only  two  that  may  be  called  Cuban — that  of 
the  ten  years,  from  1868  to  1878,  and  the  present.  The 
English,  French,  and  Spanish,  when  at  the  height  of 
their  maritime  power,  compared  with  others,  and  them- 
selves the  foremost  of  nations  in  enlightenment,  en- 
terprise and  progressive  development,  warred  in  and 
for  Cuba,  and  for  the  seas  surrounding  her  and  the 
islands  of  those  seas,  and  there  came  also  pirates  and 
filibusters,  and  used  the  shelter  of  her  shores  to  as- 
sail them  and  the  commerce  that  sailed  from  them  or 
found  its  channels  beside  them. 

There  were  armaments  and  assaults,  aggressive  ex- 
peditions and  vengeful  massacres  ;  riotings  in  the  cities 
and  insurrections  of  slaves.  The  struggle  of  the  Cuban 
people  for  themselves,  their  fights  for  liberty,  were  the 
two  wars  whose  causes,  course  and  consequences  we 
are  tracing ;  and  we  are  in  the  second  year  of  the  sec- 
ond war. 

The  last  week  of   February  of   1895   did  not  happen 


302  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

accidentally  to  be  chosen  for  the  declaration  of  the  con- 
test that  is  progressing.  Time  and  place  were  carefully 
taken  into  account.  Those  engaged  in  the  prelimina- 
ries for  Cuban  revolt  were  wise  in  the  affairs  and  the 
policy  of  Spain,  and  could  very  well  understand  the 
weaknesses  she  would  develop  in  action,  and  the  lines 
on  which  her  resources  could  be  most  certainly  and 
swiftly  crippled. 

One  man  especially  was  able  to  form  an  accurate 
judgment  from  personal  experience,  and  was  profoundly 
able  to  plan  the  campaign  that  was  coming.  We  refer 
not  to  the  ardent  patriot  so  soon  to  fall,  Jose  Marti,  but 
to  the  old  military  chieftain,  Maximo  Gomez.  He  had 
so  far  been  informed  of  the  state  of  the  Island  that  he 
was  certain  Spain  would  underrate  the  insurrection. 
She  would  look  upon  it  as  at  the  worst  for  her,  assum- 
ing the  proportions  during  the  first  year  that  had  been 
attained  in  the  last  year  of  the  first  war. 

Gomez  knew  that  the  renewed  conflagration  was  to 
be  the  most  widespread  that  ever  broke  out,  and  that 
the  Spanish  government  would  be  certain  to  be  slug- 
gish at  the  start  to  meet  the  real  danger,  partially 
that  it  was  the  habit  of  Spaniards,  but  principally 
because  they  would  naturally  undervalue  the  forces 
that  were  to  be  put  in  motion  against  them.  If  he  had 
not  had  confidence  in  the  resources  to  be  placed  at 
his  command,  Gomez  would  have  selected  the  most 
difficult  and  dangerous  season  of  the  year  to  send 
forth  the  war-cry  for  field  operations  ;  but  he  nicely 
measured  the  time  and  materials  and  the  ways  as  well 
as  the  means  of  his  partizans  and  enemies,  and  the 
opening  of  the  spring,  as  it  would  be  called  in  temper- 
ate countries,  was  fixed  as  the  time  for  the  war  procla- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  303 

mation.  He  wanted  some  months  for  getting  the 
insurgents  out  and  organized,  and  he  did  not  want 
them  drenched  and  scorched  in  the  rainy  season  to 
begin  with.  He  gave  himself  the  good  campaigning 
time  of  March,  April  and  May  for  field  preparations, 
knowing  that  when  the  Spaniards  would  appreciate  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  cut  out  for  them  and  pour  in 
their  battalions,  their  movement  would  be  checked  by 
the  rains  and  fear  of  the  fever,  and  he  have  the  oppor- 
tunities of  three  quarters  of  a  year  for  development. 
It  turned  out  just  so, 

Martinez  Campos  first  tried  his  old  persuasive  meth- 
ods and  then  ascertained  that  there  were  a  million 
Cubans  to  combat  with;  and  when  his  urgent  calls  for 
more  troops  were  responded  to  and  they  had  been 
gathered,  and  made  the  long  voyage  and  landed,  the 
rains  came  and  with  them  the  full  power  of  the 
tropical  sun  and  the  fever,  and  by  the  time  he  had 
found  how  unavailable  were  his  peace  measures  and 
his  mud  marches,  and  consented  to  wait  until  the  cam- 
paigning conditions  had  come  to  pass,  Gomez  had 
made  ready  for  his  raid  from  Santiago  to  Pinar  del 
Rio,  which  was  more  than  a  surprise — it  was  astound- 
ing, and  with  the  invasion  of  the  central  and  western 
regions  of  the  Island,  rich  in  the  sugar  and  tobacco 
plantations — the  sources  of  Cuban  wealth  and  Spanish 
revenue — was  developed  the  grand  tactics  of  desolation. 

In  his  long  march,  which  was  as  great  a  distance  as 
from  Philadelphia  to  Detroit,  not  only  the  scope  of  the 
rebellion  was  extended,  but  its  strength  increased  at 
every  step.  Campos  was  out-generaled  before  he  took 
command.  The  revolutionists  had  formed  a  resolution 
of  desperation.     It  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  prosperity 


304  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

of  the  contested  country  for  all  purposes  of  those  who 
had  selfishly  and  oppressively  misgoverned  it.  The 
Spanish  had  made  themselves  foreig'ners,  except  as 
holders,  of  offices  and  special  privileges  and  as  consum- 
ers of  the  substance  of  the  people.  Spain  had  made 
Cuba  her  slave,  and  had  to  pay  the  penalty  in  the  hor- 
rors of  servile  insurrection. 

Gomez  knew  well  the  old  story  in  warfare  of  the 
Spanish  Trocha — a  line  across  the  island — and,  knowing 
its  invulnerability  was  an  illusion,  he  gave  himself  no 
concern  about  it,  and  when  the  time  came  marched 
through  and  began  the  westward  movement  that  was 
his  master-stroke  of  warfare.  He  stopped  cane  grind- 
ing just  as  the  sugar  planters  were  about  to  begin  it, 
and  when  his  orders  were  disregarded  he  burned  cane 
fields  as  warnings,  and  explained  his  purpose.  It  was  to 
cut  off  the  supply  of  sugar  for  exportation  so  that  there 
would  be  nothing  with  which  to  pay  for  the  importa- 
tions on  which  the  Spanish  duties  were  collected.  Cane 
fields  enough  were  burned  to  alarm  the  planters  gener- 
ally, and  when  any  of  them  were  defiant,  they  found  the 
protection  of  the  government  was  a  total  failure. 

As  Gomez  marched,  the  smoke  of  burning  cane  dark- 
ened the  air  and  signaled  far  and  wide  that  the  tide  of 
war  rolled  steadily  west.  Campos  turned  his  columns 
from  place  to  place  and  called  for  more  and  more  men, 
but  fire  in  the  cane  did  not  spread  so  fast  or  far  as  the 
flames  of  the  conflagration  of  the  rebellion,  and  as  in- 
dustry ceased,  the  men  of  labor  took  up  arms,  their 
machetes  if  nothing  else,  and  horses  and  saddles  and 
joined  the  army  of  destruction  and  liberation. 

The  Spaniards  hoped  to  check  the  advance  of  the 
destroyers  in  Santa  Clara  and  failed,  and  then  in    Ma- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  S^S 

tanzas  and  failed  again;  and  there  was  a  wild,  vain 
rush  to  protect  the  province  of  Havana.  Still  the  fire 
reddening-  and  the  smoke  obscuring  the  indigo  sky 
of  Cuba,  the  pillars  of  flame  and  the  pillars  of  cloud, 
told  the  march  of  the  liberators  moved  ever  west- 
ward and  invaded  the  province  never  before  disturbed 
beyond  Havana,  where  the  tobacco  stalks  yield  leaves 
of  gold ;  and  on  the  tobacco,  as  on  the  sugar  lands,  the 
insurgent  armies  were  recruited,  and  productive  Cuba 
ceased;  and  the  dreadful  character  of  the  war  was 
developed. 

Campos  strove  to  gain  for  the  cause  of  which  he  was 
the  leader,  the  good  will  of  civilization,  and  was  met 
by  the  command  that  he  should  use  the  same  weapons 
the  rebels  did,  and  make  the  warfare  one  of  savagry, 
but  the  proportions  of  the  insurrection  were  so  vast  that 
the  inadequacy  of  the  recommendation  was  obvious 
except  to  those  whose  vision  was  perverted  by  passion. 
The  Spanish,  not  obtaining  decisive  victories,  demanded 
severities,  and  as  shouts  of  triumph  were  not  warranted 
there  were  cries  for  vengeance,  and  Campos,  beaten  and 
discredited,  retired. 

Then  came  Weyler  as  a  terror,  and  was  intimidated  by 
his  own  reputation  ;  and,  unable  to  resist  importunity 
for  assurances,  made  promises  that  were  irredeemable, 
and  he  found  his  occupations  at  Havana  so  exacting 
and  so  many  scenes  of  military  action  calling  for  super- 
vision, that  he  did  not  follow  the  example  of  his  illus- 
trious predecessor  and  rush  fitfully  to  the  field,  but  he 
evolved  the  scheme  of  surrounding  the  enemy,  which 
proved  a  failure  as  palpable  as  the  other  conception  of 
lines  and  fortifications   that  the  insurgents  could  not 

pass  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
c— 18 


306  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

As  to  these  lines  there  is  the  most  serious  attempt 
of  the  Spaniards  that  has  been  made,  to  confine  the 
daring  Maceo  in  the  western  province,  where  he  has 
been  for  weeks  alternately  dodging  the  Spaniards  and 
charging  them,  fighting  for  ammunition,  and  foraging 
in  a  country  that  has  become  so  war  wasted  that  liv- 
ing on  it  is  very  precarious.  The  Spaniards  seem  to 
have  given  up  attempts  to  defend  property,  and  to  have 
adopted  in  a  modified  degree  the  tactics  of  the  Cubans. 
The  Cuban  theory  has  been  for  a  year  that  in  order  to 
liberate  the  Island  it  must  be  laid  in  ashes  and,  in  an 
agricultural  and  commercial  sense,  completely  ruined. 
They  have  believed  the  Spaniards  would  themselves  be- 
come so  impoverished  by  the  extinction  of  the  resources 
in  the  Island  and  the  enormous  expenses  of  their  ex- 
ertions in  keeping  a  force  of  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand men  engaged  by  land  and  sea,  that  their  aggres- 
siveness at  least  would  be  extinguished  by  exhaustion. 

The  most  intelligent  Spaniards  must  be  aware  that 
the  Island  is  lost  to  them  in  the  sense  that  it  can  no 
longer  be  profitable  to  them  ;  and  there  is  in  the  reports 
from  the  scattered  scenes  of  the  customary  circum- 
stances, that  the  Spaniards  are  becoming  fiercely  dis- 
posed to  destroy  the  villages  and  plantations  the  rebels 
have  spared,  and  to  slaughter  remorselessly  the  people 
who  have  sought  to  evade  participation  in  the  war. 
The  design  behind  this  is  that  the  country  shall  be  re- 
duced to  such  a  state  of  indigence  that  the  rebels 
cannot  find  food,  and  must  disband  or  become  so  di- 
vided as  to  be  unable  to  cope  with  Spanish  battal- 
ions. Certainly  the  game  of  desolating  a  land  is  one 
that  two  can  play  at,  and  both  parties  in  Cuba  seem  to 
be  playing  it. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  307 

All  the  world  now  knows  the  rebel  war  operations 
are  an  answer  to  the  Spanish  political  economy  that 
confines  the  industries  of  the  Cubans  to  the  two  great 
specialties  of  sugar  and  tobacco,  forcing  Cuba  to  take 
Spanish  manufactures  and  refusing  fair  reciprocity  for 
Cuban  products.  No  more  intolerable  tyranny  than 
is  involved  in  this  policy  can  be  conceived.  The 
Cubans  have  destroyed  the  sugar  and  tobacco  crops, 
and  strike  Spain  through  her  revenues  and  manufac- 
tures. In  order  to  do  this  the  insurgents  have  to  keep 
moving,  and  operate  without  bases,  depots  or  hospitals 
or  objective  points.  This  is,  indeed,  the  only  system 
of  war  permitted  in  Cuba,  surrounded  as  she  is  by  the 
sea,  ill  possession  of  Spain,  and  trampled  by  an  army 
that  amounts  to  one  man  in  eight  of  the  whole  native 
population  of  the  Island,  white,  black  and  mixed. 

Weyler  ordered  the  country  stores  emptied,  and  that 
the  people  should  concentrate  themselves  in  the  towns ; 
but,  forced  to  do  this,  they  must  be  assisted  to  food  or 
starve,  and  they  are  starving.  The  great  body  of  the 
country  is  therefore  given  up  to  the  insurgents,  among 
whom  as  a  vital  matter  there  is  rigorous  discipline. 
The  Spaniards,  who  claim  to  understand  and  abide 
by  the  honor  of  arms,  become  insane  in  combat,  and 
revengeful  as  they  are  successful ;  and  a  wide  mar- 
gin is  left  for  the  totally  depraved  bandits,  who  stop  at 
no  crime  and  kill  alike  and  are  impartially  killed  by 
Spaniards  and  Cubans. 

The  effect  of  the  marching  to  and  fro  of  Gomez  and 
Maceo,  and  the  manoeuvres  of  the  regular  troops,  and  the 
reign  of  terror  of  the  robbers,  is  to  fearfully  disorganize 
society.  It  is  said  in  some  countries  in  Europe  that  the 
men  and  horses  go  to  the  war,  or  at  least  to  the  army, 


3o8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  the  women  and  cows  do  the  work.  In  Cuba  there 
does  not  appear  to  be  even  the  diversion  of  women  and 
cows  industrious  in  providing  food,  and  the  Spanish 
are  aiding  in  the  work  of  ruin  they  could  not  quell  or 
limit,  believing  that,  at  the  same  time,  Spain  is  deprived 
of  money,  or  any  form  of  the  fatness  that  has  hitherto 
characterized  Cuba,  the  Cubans  will  find  themselves 
unable  to  get  anything  to  eat,  and  must  disband  so  far 
as  to  make  no  showing  of  an  army,  and  they  are  acting 
on  the  principle  that  each  Cuban  killed  stops  a  possible 
rebel  recruit. 

There  has  been  no  precedent  of  such  warfare  as  this 
in  any  civilized  land,  and  there  is  a  question  whether,  in 
the  interests  of  humanity,  there  must  not  be  interposi- 
tion to  restrain  the  continuance  of  the  horrible  com- 
bat, which  never  was  conducted  with  the  usages  of 
organized  people,  but  is  an  endless  system  of  skirmishes 
in  ambuscades  and,  according  to  the  combatants  them- 
selves, has  largely  lost  the  forms  of  civilization  and 
become  a  competition  of  incendiaries  and  assassins.  It 
is  not  they  alone  who  take  the  sword  that  perish  by  the 
sword,  and  make  good  the  old  word,  but  they  who  take 
the  torch  perish  by  the  torch  also,  and  the  ghastly  spectre 
of  the  yellow  fever  will  soon  waste  at  noonday  and  walk 
in  darkness.  There  is  already  famine,  and  the  fever — and 
we  have  the  three  horrors,  war,  pestilence,  and  famine  ! 

There  is  reason  for  estimating  carefully  the  probabil- 
ities, when  reading  the  daily  supply  of  "  Outrages  upon 
American  Citizens"  that  are  furnished  to  the  country. 
The  demand  for  this  sort  of  thing  is  as  continuous  as  the 
supply  is  copious,  but  the  Spaniards,  while  excited 
and  resentful  towards  Americans  on  account  of  their 
peculiar  interest  in  Cuba,  have  sense  enough  not  to  be 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  309 

picking  quarrels  with  the  United  States.  There  are, 
however,  so  many  of  our  citizens  engaged  in  the  rebel- 
Uon,  that  it  is  only  with  much  caution  that  encounters 
with  them  by  the  Spanish  authorities  can  be  avoided, 
and  the  Spaniards,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  are  not  unwill- 
ing to  annoy  our  official  representatives  by  dealing  with 
citizens  who  use  the  name  of  America  as  a  cloak,  to 
cause  embarrassing  cases. 

It  would  relieve  the  American  public  of  a  good  deal  of 
anxiety  and  indignation  to  remember  that  the  news  by 
way  of  Key  West  and  Tampa  is  manipulated  in  the 
insurgent  interest  just  as  fashionably  as  that  of  Ha- 
vana is  in  the  Spanish  interest.  One  could  give  both 
sides  of  a  thousand  stories  of  "  battles  "  in  the  bushes 
without  imparting  any  real  information.  As  reported, 
with  a  manifest  mixture  of  expressions  and  exaggera- 
tions, there  is  not  a  sensation  in  500  fights,  and  history 
must  deal  with  general  results. 

As  the  month  of  April  closes,  we  hear  little  of  Gomez 
compared  with  that  which  circulates  about  Maceo,  and 
whether  Maceo  is  in  a  desperate  situation  in  the  west 
end  is  uncertain.  There  is  reason  to  believe,  however, 
that  he  is  hard-pressed,  for  other  insurgent  generals  are 
not  doing  anything  decisive  for  his  relief,  and  the  cap- 
tain-general is  using  all  means  of  transportation  to  con- 
centrate, first,  to  prevent  Maceo's  retreat  eastward,  and 
second,  to  crush  him.  If  the  insurgents  have  the  author- 
ity and  resources  and  means  of  communication  upon 
which  they  claim  recognition  for  belligerency,  and  if 
they  find  the  sea  so  open,  they  will  make  movements  to 
occupy  the  Spanish  army  to  a  considerable  extent 
remote  from  Maceo,  and  land  for  him  canned  meat  and 
hard  bread  and  cartridges. 


3IO  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

It  is  not  by  big  battles  that  the  war  will  be  decided. 
The  pivotal  questions  are  the  public  credit  of  Spain  and 
the  food  supplies  of  Cuba.  Regarding  famine,  we  do 
not  believe  there  is  fiction  on  the  wires.  The  applica- 
tion of  the  intelligence  about  the  dread  calamity  is  not, 
as  it  is  comprehended,  so  partizan  as  to  demand  per- 
versity of  patriotism.  Here  is  a  Havana  despatch  of 
April  2oth,  saying,  "  Reports  come  from  all  parts  of  the 
Island  of  much  distress,  resulting  from  the  concentra- 
tion of  the  population  in  the  cities  and  the  desertion  of 
the  fields."  A  letter  from  Cartagena  states  that  the 
people  are  in  a  terrible  condition.  There  is  no  work  for 
men,  and  little  food.  In  Trinidad  fish  sells  for  thirty 
cents  a  pound,  and  meat  has  increased  two  and  a  half 
cents  a  pound.  In  Sancti  Spiritus  charcoal,  formerly 
forty  cents,  is  now  $1.40.  All  food  has  advanced 
equally  in  price.  In  Sitio  Grande  many  families  are 
living  in  tents  erected  in  the  middle  of  the  streets." 

Another  despatch  from  the  same  place,  of  the  same 
date,  reads:  "The  situation  in  Cuba  is  heartrending; 
the  poverty  is  appalling  ;  famine  stalks  through  this 
naked,  desolate  land.  The  bread  question  will  pres- 
ently become  as  important  as  the  political  question. 
Preparations  for  relieving  the  sufferings  of  the  non- 
combatants  must  soon  be  made.  Women  and  children 
from  the  interior  continue  to  flee  to  the  United  States 
on  every  steamer.  The  benevoleiice  of  Americans  will 
soon  be  tested,  or  thousands  will  starve,  for  everything 
is  being  put  to  the  torch."  _  ^^ 

Thousands  of  people  are  in  the  woods  to  evade  Wey- 
ler's  ordef  to  concentrate  in  the  towns.  Both  sides 
are  dealing  violently  with  the  country  people.  A  letter 
from  Sancti  Spiritus  says :  "  It  is  dreadful  to  think  of  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  311 

effects  of  the  concentration.  It  means  the  death  of 
many  famiUes.  We  have  no  houses  or  food  for  them. 
The  people  try  to  evade  the  general's  order.  The  Span- 
ish troops  have  strict  orders  to  burn  every  house, 
whether  occupied  or  not.  In  the  districts  of  Macaya- 
beos  and  Yayabo,  all  the  houses  have  already  been 
burned  by  the  Spanish  columns,  and  the  inhabitants 
have  been  forced  to  come  into  the  towns,  or  meet 
starvation." 

The  accounts  of  the  estates  burned  by  the  insurgents, 
with  immense  quantities  of  cane,  the  houses,  the  planta- 
tion property  of  every  kind,  are  appalling,  and,  with  the 
Spaniards  engaged  in  like  work,  the  speedy  reduction 
of  the  Island  to  a  desert,  visited  with  every  calamity 
that  scourges  mankind,  is  certain. 

Thus  far,  every  shape  of  general  misfortune  and  dis- 
tress aids  to  swell  the  ranks  of  insurgents.  The  Weyler 
order  for  concentration  in  villages  is  declared  to  have 
thrown  thousands  of  desperate  men  into  the  ranks  of 
Gomez  in  the  east  end.  Driven  from  their  homes,  they 
prefer  to  go  to  the  army  rather  than  to  the  garrisoned 
towns,  and  the  women  have  been  following  them,  being 
homeless,  and  feeling  safer  in  the  camps,  than  in  their 
houses  without  the  protection  of  husbands,  brothers, 
and  sons,  all  gone  into  the  army.  This  women  move- 
ment, however,  cannot  be  general,  for  they  cannot  take 
the  children  to  the  army,  and  so  they  live  in  privation 
and  terror,  and  have  places  where  they  hide  from  the 
raging  savages  that  have  become  the  beasts  of  prey. 


312  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    PICTURESQUE    IN    THE    WAR. 

The  Camps  of  the  Rebels  and  the  Palace  of  the  Governor-General — 
How  the  Wounded  Cubans  are  Cared  for — The  Inside  of  the  Rebel- 
lion in  the  Woods,  and  the  Secret  Doors  of  the  Palace — The  Cuban 
Women  in  the  War,  and  an  American  Woman  Interviews  the  Re- 
doubtable Weyler,  and  He  Shows  Photographs  of  His  Family,  and 
Gives  Her  Flowers. 

Grover  Flint's  pen-sketch  of  a  camp  of  Cubans  is  a^. 
fine  picture,  full  of  touches  that  tell  of  truthfulness.  He 
was  writing  from  a  real  insurgent  retreat,  and  as  he 
wrote,  the  swarthy  guards,  with  the  silver  star  on  their 
hats  and  rifles  in  their  hands,  were  duly  vigilant.  He 
says  : 

"Camp  Sabanas,  near  Sagua,  April  i. — This  is  a  real 
insurgent  camp.  About  me,  as  I  write,  are  standing 
its  swarthy  guards,  with  the  silver  star  on  their  hat 
rims  and  rifles  in  their  hands.  It  is  a  permanent  camp, 
with  a  little  hospital.  Dr.  Francisco  DomingueS,  of 
Havana,  is  stationed  here  as  a  special  agent  of  General 
Maximo  Gomez,  not  only  to  attend  to  the  wounded, 
but  to  forward  despatches  to  the  chiefs  of  insurgent 
divisions  throughout  the  Matanzas  province. 

"The  camp  lies  in  a  forest  among  the  foothills  that 
rise  from  either  side  of  the  valley,  reaching  from  the 
coast  to  the  interior  of  the  Island.  High  mountains  and 
swamps,  green  with  rushes  and  cane,  protect  it  on  all 
sides  but  one.  On  this  side  a  narrow  trail  zigzags  for 
a  league  in  the  woods,  barely  missing  morasses  and  pit- 


f^        OF  THE 

•aNlVERSlTT^ 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY,  3l5 

falls.  Twenty  well  armed  men  could  hold  that  trail 
against  a  regiment. 

"  The  camp  itself  is  tropical  and  picturesque.  It  is  a 
plateau,  thickly  overgrown  with  stunted  trees  and  tow- 
ering palms,  reached  by  little  paths  cut  with  the 
machete. 

"The  insurgents  live  in  small  huts  or  wickyups,  '  jack- 
als '  they  call  them  here,  built  of  boughs  and  saplings, 
and  thatched  with  palm  leaves.  Rebels  against  Spain 
must  sleep  in  hammocks,  for  the  ground  sweats  in  the 
Cuban  jungle,  and  white  men  cannot  sleep  on  it  and 
live. 

"At  night  strange  birds  sing.  Queer  animals,  like 
overgrown  rats,  look  at  you  from  the  trees,  and  great 
land  crabs  scurry  into  their  holes  at  your  approach. 
Horses  are  tethered  about  everywhere,  and  stand 
unsheltered,  rain  or  shine.  They  are  fed  on  rushes,  or 
colla,  for  no  other  grain  is  to  be  had,  and  a  sorebacked, 
sorry  lot  they  are,  though  tough  and  tireless  as  our  own 
bronchos. 

"  The  camp  guard  consists  of  fifty  men,  exclusive  of 
negro  camp  servants,  armed  only  with  machetes.  Major 
Juan  Jose  Andarje,  a  strong,  handsome  young  Cuban, 
is  in  command,  with  a  captain,  a  sergeant,  and  four 
corporals.  Guards  and  patrols  watch  the  trail  leading 
from  the  valley,  and  no  one  is  allowed  to  leave  without 
a  pass  from  the  commander.  Squads  of  men  ride 
through  the  country  at  night  in  search  of  '  plateados  ' 
— those  bloodthirsty  robbers  who  were  the  terror  of  the 
country  early  in  the  war,  but  who  have  been  almost 
suppressed  by  the  insurgents.  When  the  plateado  is 
caught,  he  is  brought  to  camp  and  hanged  to  the  near- 
est tree. 


3l6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  It  is  odd  to  find  soldiers  with  camp  servants  to  fetch 
water,  cut  wood  and  perform  the  acts  of  personal  ser- 
vice ;  but  the  men  are  active  and  quick  to  take  the  sad- 
dle on  sudden  alarm,  as  I  have  seen  on  several  occa- 
sions since  my  arrival.  The  life  is  like  that  of  Marion's 
men  in  our  American  Revolution  for  simplicity.  No 
coffee,  no  bread,  heated  sugar  and  water  at  daybreak, 
sweet  potatoes  and  stewed  beef  at  noon,  and  stewed 
beef  and  sweet  potatoes  at  night.  Beans  and  rice  are 
luxuries.  Sugar  cane,  sweet  and  nutritious,  does  for 
bread.  We  eat  with  our  fingers  and  knives  down  here, 
with  bits  of  palm  bark  for  plates.  Food  is  plentiful  or 
scarce,  according  to  the  country  and  to  circumstances. 
That  there  is  no  scarcity  now  is  proof  that  the  sympa- 
thy of  the  native  population  is  with  the  insurrection. 

"  No  man  is  so  poor  that  he  cannot  cheerfully  give 
food  for  the  army,  This  proves  also  the  truth  of  the 
saying  here  that  the  Spaniard  owns  only  the  ground  he 
stands  on.  The  news  of  every  movement  of  the  Span- 
iards is  quickly  reported. 

"  I  find  these  people  capable  of  any  sacrifice  for  the 
cause.  In  the  interior,  inhabitants  of  the  villages  will 
burn  their  towns  on  the  approach  of  a  Spanish  column, 
so  that  they  may  not  afford  the  troops  shelter,  and 
points  whence  expeditions  may  be  sent  through  the 
country.  I  also  find  that  whenever  the  insurectos  ride 
with  their  red,  white  and  blue  cockades,  the  people  are 
glad  to  see  them.  The  girls  stand  in  the  doorway  and 
wave  their  hands,  and  the  small  boys  look  on  them 
with  admiration.  On  the  other  hand,  the  news  of  the 
approach  of  Spanish  troops  will  throw  a  community 
into  a  panic. 

"  I  can  now,  from  the   insurgents  I   have  seen  and 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY.  31/ 

lived  with,  contradict  the  absurd  and  pitiful  misstate- 
ments of  the  Spanish  press  and  Spanish  minister  at 
Washington,  that  the  insurgent  ranks  are  composed  of 
bandits,  whose  only  aim  is  to  kill  and  burn.  I  find  my- 
self among  men  courteous  and  well  bred,  proprietors  of 
plantations  for  the  most  part,  or  sons  of  such  proprie- 
tors, and  evidently  accustomed  to  a  comfortable  mode 
of  life.  These  remain  in  the  field,  half-fed,  inadequately 
armed  and  badly  equipped,  certain  only  of  ignominious 
death  in  case  of  capture.  They  receive  no  pay  and 
are  earnest,  patriotic  and  self-sacrificing.  They  obey 
the  officers  implicitly  and  do  their  duty  without  com- 
plaint. Moreover,  you  do  not  hear  of  a  single  authenti- 
cated case  of  robbery  or  violence  of  any  kind  done  by 
them.  The  vicious,  cowardly  atrocities  penetrated  on 
defenseless  men,  women  and  children  are  the  work  of 
Spanish  troops. 

"  The  victims  of  these  are  rarely  important  enough  to 
attract  special  attention,  but  the  massacre  continues  in 
every  part  of  the  Island.  I  am  told  that  this  state  of 
affairs  was  unknown  at  the  time  of  Martinez  Campos. 

''  To-day  I  talked  with  Jose  Ballete  y  Sirea,  proprietor 
of  a  little  plantation  near  Recreo.  Two  weeks  ago  his  six- 
teen-year-old son  was  seen  by  some  Spanish  guerillas 
exchanging  words  with  a  passing  party  of  insurgents. 

"  After  the  rebels  had  passed,  the  guerillas  came  from 
their  hiding  place,  arrested  the  lad  and  took  him  before 
the  alcalde  of  Recreo  as  a  suspect.  The  alcalde  dis- 
missed the  case  and  ordered  the  guerillas  to  take  the 
boy  home.  As  soon  as  they  were  clear  of  the  town  the 
guerillas  cut  the  boy  to  pieces  with  matchetes,  and  left 
the  mutilated  body  in  a  field,  where  it  was  found  six 
days  later  by  the  parents.     Then  the  father  put  a  star 


3i8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  a  ribbon  on  his  hat  and  joined  the  rebels  in  the 
woods." 

Kate  Masterson,  writing  from  Havana,  after  hearing 
from  the  Cuban  women,  with  a  woman's  sympathy, 
the  startUng  stories  of  their  confidences,  gives  this  ro- 
mantic history  of  woman's  part  in  the  war  : 

"  From  this  beautiful  summer  land  one  cry  goes  up, 
which  is  heard  over  the  din  of  battle  and  the  clash  of 
arms.  It  is  the  wail  of  the  desolate  Cuban  women. 
They  are  mourning  for  their  loved  ones,  and  their  tears 
are  falling  upon  new-made  graves  throughout  the  Island. 

"Their  soft  eyes  have  looked  upon  ghastly  bonfires 
in  which  the  bodies  of  their  babies  have  been  the  fuel 
that  fed  the  flames.  Their  cry  is  more  eloquent  than 
all  the  ruin  and  desolation  of  this  beautiful  land  of 
graves.  The  cane  fields,  sending  their  columns  of 
flame  and  smoke  across  the  stars  like  signal  fires  to  the 
American  nation,  are  not  so  imperative  as  all  this  woman 
love  going  up  to  Heaven  in  a  tortured  cry  for  help. 

"Like  the  Easter  lilies  of  Cuba,  bent  and  stained 
with  patriot  blood,  and  the  roses  trampled  in  the  earth 
and  drenched  with  mire,  are  the  hearts  of  these  poor 
women.  They  are  suff"ering,  bleeding  and  breaking  ; 
yet  they  still  have  courage,  and  trust  that  God  will 
send  aid  from  America  and  liberty  to  Cuba. 

"  It  is  for  the  women  and  the  children  that  these 
men  are  fighting  who  are  so  bravely  holding  the  Island 
in  the  face  of  an  army,  more  than  three  times  bigger  in 
numbers  than  they  ;  half  naked  as  they  are,  their 
bodies  torn  from  the  underbrush  through  which  they 
walk,  often  with  only  one  cartridge  apiece  to  face  a 
well-provided  foe,  they  are  fighting  with  a  spirit  which 
once  moved  the  American  army  of  the  revolution. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  319 

"The  women  of  Cuba  are  the  mothers  of  this  most 
human  revolution.  They  do  not  fear  death.  They 
would  gladly  die  for  Cuba,  but  their  cheeks  grow 
white  at  the  thought  of  the  atrocities  and  crimes  which 
the  Spanish  soldiers  employ  toward  the  helpless.  So 
strong  is  this  fear,  that  many  of  the  women  have 
accompanied  their  husbands  to  the  fields,  remembering 
the  crimes  of  the  late  war  against  their  sex.  Men  have 
hesitated  to  leave  their  wives  and  daughters  unpro- 
tected at  home,  and  there  are  over  a  hundred  women 
under  Maceo  and  many  under  General  Gomez  as  well. 

"  Many  women  are  nursing  the  sick  and  the  wounded. 
Some  are  fighting  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  men. 
They  do  not  fear  death  one-half  so  much  as  the  horrors 
which  might  await  them  at  their  homes.  Their  children 
are  born  upon  the  battlefield.  It  was  thus  in  the  last  war 
also.     Is  it  a  wonder,  then,  that  the  Cubans  are  patriots  ? 

"  It  is  one  great  feature  of  this  revolution  that  not 
only  the  women,  but  the  children,  are  fighting  with  the 
army.  There  is  a  list  of  child  martyrs,  baby  patriots. 
The  Spanish  authorities,  with  their  usual  cheap  acute- 
ness,  have  endeavored  to  make  capital  from  the  fact 
that  there  are  women  in  the  field  with  the  Cuban  army, 
and  have  spread  the  report  that  they  are  '  Amazons,' 
describing  them  as  rough,  masculine  creatures,  devoid 
of  gentleness  and  modesty.  This  is  one  of  the  favorite 
lies  which  they  are  so  fond  of  quoting.  The  Cuban 
women  are  the  most  feminine  and  simple  women  in 
the  world.  They  are  almost  childish  in  their  love  for 
prettiness  and  charm.  They  adore  their  children  and 
worship  their  husbands.  But  their  gentleness  has  turned 
to  bitterness  in  many  of  their  hearts  through  the  sor- 
rows that  have  been  inflicted  upon  them. 


320  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"Besides  the  women  who  are  with  the  army,  there 
are  any  number  of  women  in  Havana  to-day  who  are 
anxious  to  join  them.  They  know  only  too  well  that 
should  the  Cubans  attack  Havana,  the  vengeance  of  the 
Spaniards  would  be  directed  to  them.  I  have  visited 
them  in  their  homes  in  Havana  and  outside  of  the  lim- 
its placed  by  war.  I  have  spoken  with  them  and  have 
been  thrilled  with  their  courage  and  patriotism.  I 
know  that  American  women  are  patriotic,  but  these 
Cuban  women  are  fierce  in  their  patriotism,  and  wish  to 
take  arms  against  the  enemy  who  has  despoiled  their 
homes  and  killed  their  relatives.  They  are  the  '  insur- 
rectes'  heart  and  soul,  the  moving  spirit  of  the  revolu- 
tion. To-day  Maximo  Gomez  carries  over  his  heart  a 
silken  Cuban  flag  which  he  has  sworn  that  he  will  never 
unfurl  until  it  floats  over  Moro  Castle. 

"  Many  of  the  Cuban  women  have  lost  all  they  pos- 
sessed through  this  war.  Their  plantations  have  been 
burned  and  their  fortunes  swept  away,  but  I  heard 
none  complain.  They  are  willing  to  give  everything 
for  Cuba,  and  they  see  their  sugar  cane  go  up  in  smoke, 
glad  that  thereby  its  revenue  will  be  lost  to  Spain. 
Some  of  these  women  sold  their  jewels  when  their 
money  was  gone,  in  order  to  send  medicines  and  lint  to 
the  rebels.  In  every  Cuban  home,  also,  a  sum  is  set 
aside  out  of  each  day's  household  money  to  send  to 
the  field. 

"  There  are  pathetic  and  moving  incidents  without 
number  connected  with  this  w^r  in  which  women  play 
the  first  part.  Many  of  them  lie  in  unmarked  graves 
to-day,  but  their  names  will  live  in  Cuban  history  for- 
ever. An  old  lady  of  eighty,  whom  I  visited  at  her 
home    a    few    miles   out    of    Havana,    showed    me   an 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  321 

American  flag  which  she  has  kept  carefully  for  years 
folded  away  in  camphor,  She  told  me  in  Spanish  that 
she  was  keeping  it  to  drape  over  her  balcony  when  the 
American  troops  marched  through  the  streets  of  Havana. 

"  One  of  the  most  dramatic  incidents  of  the  war  was 
a  marriage  ceremony  performed  at  dawn  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Puerto  Principe.  Robau,  a  handsome  and  well 
educated  young  man,  whose  father  owns  a  large  plan- 
tation at  Puerto  Principe,  enlisted  as  a  private  with 
General  Gomez  when  the  war  broke  out.  He  has 
fought  bravely  from  the  beginning  until  now,  and  was 
made  lieutenant,  then  first  lieutenant,  captain,  and  then 
major.  He  recruited  his  regiment  from  his  own  neigh- 
borhood, and  it  is  now  composed  entirely  of  his  friends, 
all  finely  bred  young  men. 

"  Robau  was  in  love  with  a  young  girl  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  a  small  village  near  his  father's  estate.  She  was 
in  humbler  circumstances  than  he,  and  the  rigid  rules  of 
Cuban  etiquette  kept  them  apart.  But  when  the  young 
man  first  marched  through  the  town  with  his  splendid 
company  of  men,  their  horses'  bridles  were  braided  with 
ribbons  and  they  wore  wreaths  of  palm  leaves  about 
their  hats  in  her  honor.  They  passed  the  girl's  home, 
and  saluted  her  as  she  stood  on  the  balcony  with  her 
mother. 

"  Robau  went  in  and  asked  that  he  might  marry  the 
girl  then  and  take  her  with  him,  as  he  feared  that  evil 
might  befall  her  in  his  absence.  But  his  sweetheart's 
parents  objected,  and  finally  Robau  yielded  to  their 
wishes,  and  marched  away  broken  hearted.  Two  days 
later,  when  he  had  gone  many  miles,  the  girl  dashed  to 
his  side,  mounted  on  a  horse.  She  had  run  away  from 
her  home  in  order  that  she  might  be  with  her  lover. 


322  THE  STOKY  OF  CUBA. 

"  That  night  Robau  sent  a  guard  of  two  men,  with  an 
extra  horse  and  an  empty  saddle,  to  the  house  of  a 
padre  near  by.  The  good  priest  mounted  and  rode 
along  between  the  two  men,  muttering  prayers,  for  he 
expected,  despite  the  assurances  of  his  escorts,  that  he 
was  to  be  killed.  They  reached  the  hills  where  the 
regiment  had  halted,  and  just  as  dawn  broke  from  the 
east  the  young  people  were  married.  They  are  now 
at  Santa  Clara,  where  Robau  is  in  command  of  400 
men,  operating  with  Seraphine  Sanchez  and  his  band  of 
4,000. 

"  One  of  the  notable  women  of  this  revolution 
is  Rosa  Hernandez,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Hernandez,  of  San 
Cristobel.  She  is  now  in  the  field  with  her  husband, 
under  General  Maceo,  taking  active  part  in  the  fighting. 
She  is  young  and  beautiful,  and  had  only  been  married 
a  year  when  her  husband  had  been  called  upon  to  or- 
ganize a  band  of  men.  He  came  to  his  young  wife, 
who  was  soon  to  be  a  mother,  and  told  her  that  he 
would  do  just  as  she  willed,  for  he  felt  that  his  life  be- 
longed to  her.  She  answered  him  that  she  wished  he 
should  go  to  the  war.  In  a  week  he  had  raised  a  band 
of  500  men — half  a  regiment — and,  as  they  marched 
out  of  the  town,  they  saluted  Mrs.  Hernandez,  passing 
her  house,  shouting  *  Viva  la  Reine  Cuba  ! ' 

"  When  her  husband  had  been  gone  about  three 
weeks,  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  the  town  under 
General  Carnellos.  One  of  the  lieutenants  rode  into 
Hernandez's  home  on  horseback,  and  subjected  her  to 
threats  and  insults.  As  soon  as  he  had  left,  she  got  a 
horse  and  joined  her  husband,  riding  many  miles 
through  the  Cuban  hills  until  she  found  him. 

"  The  women  of  San  Juan  Martinez  have  also  taken 


CUBANS  FIGHTING  FROM  TREE  TOPS 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  325 

a  great  part  in  the  rebellion.  When  the  Spanish  troops, 
under  Cornell,  were  on  their  way  to  the  city,  the  people 
met  and  took  a  vote  as  to  what  course  they  should  pur- 
sue, the  women  casting  ballots  with  the  men.  They 
decided  to  burn  their  city  rather  than  to  have  the  Span- 
ish soldiers  destroy  it.  They  took  their  children  in 
their  arms  and  turned  their  faces  toward  Guane,  walk- 
ing all  the  way,  as  they  had  given  their  horses  to  the 
Cuban  soldiers.  Before  they  left,  the  women  set  their 
homes  on  fire,  and  when  the  Spaniards  reached  the 
place  at  midnight,  they  found  the  city  in  flames.  When 
the  people  of  Martinez  reached  Guane  they  found  that 
the  baffled  soldiers  were  still  on  their  track,  and  they 
burned  Guane,  as  they  had  their  own  city,  the  women 
putting  the  torch  to  the  houses.  They  afterward  burned 
Montezeula  in  a  similar  manner,  cutting  off  the  Span- 
iards effectually.  The  path  of  these  women  and  their 
babies  was  marked  by  fire  until  they  reached  the  pro- 
tection of  the  insurgent  army. 

"  On  the  7th  of  January  last,  the  rebel  forces,  under 
Perico  Delgado,  burned  the  settlement  of  Cayajabos, 
Pinar  del  Rio.  A  rebel  soldier  was  carrying  an  oil  lamp 
to  bedaub  the  walls  of  a  house.  Miss  Regla  Quevedo, 
a  graceful  young  lady,  ran  toward  the  revolutionist  and 
grabbed  his  arm,  at  the  same  time  exclaiming  :  '  You 
must  not  do  that  to  this  house,  as  it  belongs  to  a 
Cuban  ;  come  with  me  and  oil  this  other  one,  which  I 
myself  want  to  set  on  fire ;  it  belongs  to  a  man  who 
hates  us.' 

"  It  was  a  Spaniard's  house,  an  officer  of  the  volun- 
teers. 

"Mrs.  Louisa  Hernandez,  the  wife  of  Damian  Pere- 
soto,  a  political  exile  in  the  Isle  of  Pines,  accompanied 

C— 19 


326.  THE   STORY  OF  CU.BA. 

her  husband  in  his  exile,  that  she  might  Uberate  him. 
When  he  was  working  with  eleven  others  cutting  wood, 
she  began  to  talk  with  the  padrone  who  had  charge  of 
them,  so  as  to  get  familiar  with  him,  and  in  one  of  their 
talks  she  seized  the  guard's  gun  on  pretense  of  exam- 
ining it.  Suddenly  she  leaped  backward,  and,  pointing 
the  gun  at  the  guard,  threatened  him  with  instant  death 
if  he  moved.  Then  taking  the  guard's  machete,  her 
husband  and  his  comrades  tied  the  unfortunate  man 
and  fled  toward  the  coast. 

"  On  reaching  the  coast  they  compelled  the  captain  of 
the  schooner  Margarita  to  set  sail  for  Cienega  de  Za- 
pata, which  they  reached  in  safety.  The  twelve  fugi- 
tives made  their  way  to  Cuba  and  joined  the  revolu- 
tionary forces.  Mrs.  Hernandez  is  still  at  Zapata,  where 
she  acts  as  nurse  in  a  hospital. 

"  In  the  Cuban  regiment  under  Colonel  Antonio 
Nunez  there  are  two  young  and  pretty  women,  wives 
of  two  rebel  chiefs.  They  travel  well  armed  and  ride 
two  very  fine  horses.  January  7,  when  the  forces  which 
they  accompany  stopped  a  passenger  train  at  St.  Cri- 
tobal  Station,  Pinar  del  Rio  province,  the  two  young 
women  were  the  ones  to  quiet  some  of  the  passengers 
who  were  frightened,  and  as  some  of  the  passengers 
were  astonished  at  seeing  them  armed,  they  answered  : 
'  The  country  needs  arms  which  can  carry  those  arms 
that  she  needs  for  her  defense,  and  does  not  make  any 
distinction  whether  they  be  those  of  men  or  women. 
All  of  them  are  the  same,  with  the  proviso  that  their 
owner  should  be  courageous  and  have  determination.' 

"  When  the  insurrectionists,  under  Edward  Garcia  and 
Rafail  Cardenas,  invaded  the  settlement  of  Sabanilla  del 
Comendador,    the    majority    of   the   women    residents 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  "^2^ 

joined  them,  receiving  them  with  cheers  and  cries  of 
'  Cuba  Ubre  ! '  The  garrison  of  the  town  before  surren- 
dering defended  itself,  and  during  the  fight  some  of  the 
women  employed  themselves  in  setting  fire  to  the  set- 
tlement while  others  gathered  up  the  wounded  and 
others  were  getting  arms  from  the  rebels,  so  as  to  fire 
themselves. 

"  With  the  forces  of  Calixto  Alvarez  there  are  eleven 
women,  colored,  wives  of  eastern  chiefs,  who  have 
abandoned  their  small  farms  in  St.  Jago  de  Cuba,  to 
follow  their  husbands'  lot.  These  women  busy  them- 
selves in  gathering  up  the  wounded  that  fall  during  the 
fights  and  succoring  them.  All  of  them  carry  machetes 
and  revolvers. 

"  Christina  Lazo,  a  daughter  of  Cuba,  was  imprisoned 
by  reason  of  her  separatist  propaganda,  and  was  locked 
up  in  the  Jarneo  prison.  On  the  19th  of  February,  the 
forces  under  Maceo  invaded  the  place  and  liberated  the 
prisoners.  Christina  burned  the  prison,  made  a  speech 
to  the  townspeople  to  prevail  on  them  to  join  the  rebels, 
and  then  marched  away  with  the  Cuban  troops." 

To  what  extent  the  Cuban  ladies  unconciously  exagger- 
ate the  number  of  their  sisters  who  are  fighting  for  free- 
dom, is  not  known,  but  that  they  are,  in  their  excitement, 
inaccurate  we  may  safely  assume.  No  doubt  many  sin- 
cerely wish  to  fight,  but  cannot  get  the  chance.  The  Cu^ 
ban  ladies  are  not  advanced  in  the  modern  woman  sense, 
and  Mrs.  Masterson  has  faithfully  portrayed  them.  There 
is  no  question  that  some  of  them  are  with  the  armies. 
They  can  be  of  greater  actual  service  in  the  hospitals; 
but,  unhappily,  the  wounded  cannot  receive  the  care  they 
should  have.  Mr.  Rappleye  said,  in  one  of  his  early  let- 
ters: "There  are  four  women  with  Gomez.     They  are 


328  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

white  women,  one  of  them  an  American.  They  are  the 
wives  of  some  of  his  officers.  They  are  dressed  in  mas- 
cuUne  attire,  as  a  pair  of  bloomers  have  never  been 
landed  in  the  island  of  Cuba.  They  ride  horseback 
with  Gomez's  staff,  and  each  carries  a  Mauser  rifle  and 
ammunition.  They  have  taken  part  in  several  engage- 
ments, and  so  far  they  have  escaped  being  wounded." 

Here  the  number  of  Amazons  is  understated  as  to  the 
time  covered,  and  they  have  had  reinforcements.  The 
Spaniards  not  only  admit  the  presence  of  the  Cuban 
women  with  the  insurgent  forces,  but  assert  it  with 
ungenerous  imputations.  The  Spaniard  cannot,  as  a 
matter  of  patriotism,  do  justice  to  the  discipline  of  the 
Cuban  soldier — much  less  to  his  bravery  and  his  mer- 
cies— and  they  should  read,  mark,  and  inwardly  digest 
this  testimony,  which  is  given  in  a  letter  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Stanford  University,  California — 

San  Francisco,  April  26. — President  Starr  Jordan,  of  Leland  Stanford, 
Jr.,  University,  writes  to  the  San  Francisco  Call  o.?,  follows: 

Palo  Alto,  Cal.,  April  25. — Some  time  ago  I  wrote  to  a  friend  in 
Havana,  a  gentleman  of  Spanish  descent  and  education,  an  author  well 
known  in  Havana,  and  withal  a  very  trustworthy  man,  asking  him  to  tell 
me  what  the  real  feeling  of  the  intelligent  classes  of  Havana  was  in  re- 
gard to  the  present  insurrection.  I  inclose  herewith  a  translation  of  a  letter 
received  from  him.  It  seems  to  show  that  this  rebellion  is  not  a  mere 
bandit  outbreak  of  negroes  and  jailbirds,  but  the  effort  of  the  whole 
people  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  a  government  they  find  intolerable. 

Havana,  April  17,  1896. 
Dr.  David  S.  Jordan,  Palo  Alto,  Cal., 

Dear  Sir:  It  is  to  be  regretted  that,  as  you  say,  those  of  you  who 
are  interested  in  the  fate  of  this  country  have  not  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
its  true  present  state.  Great  ruin  and  much  blood  must  be  shed  to  attain 
what  now  seems  likely  to  be  attained,  but  it  is  never  too  late  for  the  good. 
I  can  give  you  an  idea  of  what  the  really  intelligent  Cubans  think  of  the 

/ 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  329 

present  movement.  I  have  heard  the  opinions  of  the  most  distinguished 
persons  of  the  city,  persons  who,  by  education  and  from  a  sense  of  honor, 
are  incapable  of  falsehood.  They  have  given  testimony,  one  by  one, 
each  without  knowledge  before  and  after  of  what  the  other  has  said.  It 
seems  to  me,  therefore,  that  I  can  reply  to  your  inquiries  with  authority. 

1.  The  insurrection  was  begun  and  is  kept  up  by  Cuban  people. 

2.  The  Government  has  made  colossal  and  unheard-of  efforts  to  put  it 
down,  bringing  against  it  a  force  of  150,000  armed  men  and  resorting  to 
all  possible  measures  of  prudence  and  resource,  but  has  not  succeeded 
in  diminishing  it.  It  has  extended  from  the  extreme  east  to  the  extreme 
west,  and  is  everywhere  maintained. 

3.  The  flower  of  our  youth  is  in  the  army  of  the  insurrection.  In  its 
ranks  are  many  physicians,  lawyers,  druggists,  professors,  artists,  men 
of  business,  engineers,  ct  al.  By  the  excellent  consular  service  of  the 
United  States  this  fact  may  be  proved  if  it  is  not  already  known. 

4.  The  insurgents  began  by  destroying  their  own  property,  in  order  to 
deprive  the  troops  of  the  government  of  shelter  and  sustenance. 

5.  Destruction  is  carried  on  by  both  sides;  by  the  insurgents  on  the 
much  greater  scale. 

6.  Let  it  be  understood  that  the  insurgents  will  continue  in  their  course 
until  they  fulfil  their  purpose,  carrying  all  before  them  by  fire  and 
blood. 

7.  All  eyes  are  directed  toward  the  north,  to  the  republic,  which  is 
the  mother  of  all  Americans. 

8.  The  people  of  the  United  States  must  bear  strongly  in  mind  now 
as  never  before,  that  profession  is  null  and  void  if  action  does  not  confirm 
it.     Men  like  yourself  know  this  best  of  all. 

The  man  most  abhorred  of  all  in  the  world  by  the 
women  of  Cuba  is  Captain-General  Weyler,  and  the 
only  American  woman  who  has  interviewed  him  is  the 
same  who  has  written  with  so  much  warmth  and  orrace 
of  the  Cubans  of  her  sex,  and  whose  romantic  sketch  of 
the  heroines  in  the  army  we  have  largely  reproduced. 

Now,  Weyler  is  a  very  accessible  captain-general,  a 
diplomat  in  conversation,  and  of  various  manners  from 
the  sharpest  business  tones  and  language,  and  the  most 
peremptory  questions  to  the  gracious  and  the  gallant. 


330  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Mrs.  Masterson  describes  Weyler  as  advancing  to  meet 
her  with  a  clasp  of  his  firm,  finely-shaped,  cold  hand, 
and  quick,  magnetic  voice  !  He  wore  a  black  alpaca  of- 
fice coat,  and  his  linen  was  spotless,  and  about  his 
waist,  over  his  vest,  was  a  sash  of  red  silk,  and  the 
great  strength  of  his  face,  and  massive  build  of  his 
shoulders  were  what  first  impressed  themselves  upon 
his  caller,  who  saw  that  "  his  eyes  are  bright  and  are 
the  color  of  sherry  with  ice  in  it.  Otherwise  they  have 
a  naughty  little  twinkle." 

The  interview  proceeded  as  follows,  under  the  usual 
common  consent  that  it  was  not  an  interview,  a  little 
finesse  of  the  exalted  officials  in  many  lands. 

"  Your  Excellency,"  I  said,  through  my  interpreter, 
"  the  American  women  have  a  very  bad  opinion  of  you. 
I  am  very  much  afraid  of  you  myself,  but  I  have  come 
to  ask  the  honor  of  an  interview  with  you,  in  order  that 
I  may  write  something  which  will  reassure  the  women 
of  America  that  you  are  not  treating  women  and  chil- 
dren unmercifully." 

The  general  smiled. 

"  I  do  not  give  interviews,"  he  said.  "  I  am  willing, 
however,  to  answer  any  question  you  wish  to  ask." 

So  it  was  with  this  understanding  that  we  conversed. 
The  general  has  allowed  me  to  have  the  conversation 
published. 

"  In  the  United  States,"  I  said,  "  an  impression  pre- 
vails that  your  edict  shutting  out  newspaper  corre- 
spondents from  the  field  is  only  to  conceal  cruelties 
perpetrated  upon  the  insurgent  prisoners.  Will  your 
Excellency  tell  me  the  real  cause  ?" 

"  I  have,"  replied  the  general,  "  shut  out  the  Spanish 
and  Cuban  papers  from  the  field,  as  well  as  the  Ameri- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  331 

cans.  In  the  last  war  the  correspondents  created  much 
jealousy  by  what  they  wrote.  They  praised  one  and 
rebuked  the  other.  They  wrote  what  their  passions 
dictated  instead  of  facts.  They  even  created  ill  feeling 
between  the  Spanish  officers.     They  are  a  nuisance." 

"  Then  I  can  deny  the  stories  that  have  been  pub- 
lished as  to  your  being  cruel  ?  " 

The  general  shrugged  his  heavy  shoulders  as  he  said, 
carelessly : 

"  I  have  no  time  to  pay  attention  to  stories.  Some  of 
them  are  true,  and  some  are  not.  If  you  will  particu- 
larize, I  will  give  direct  answers  ;  but  these  things  are 
not  important." 

"  Does  not  your  Excellency  think  that  prisoners  of 
war  should  be  treated  with  consideration  and  mercy  ?  " 

The  general's  eyes  glinted  dangerously. 

"  The  Spanish  columns  attend  to  their  prisoners  just 
as  well  as  any  other  country  in  times  of  war,"  he  re- 
plied. "  War  is  war.  You  cannot  make  it  otherwise,  try 
as  you  will." 

"  Will  not  your  Excellency  allow  me  to  go  to  the 
scene  of  battle,  under  an  escort  of  soldiers  if  necessary, 
that  I  may  write  of  the  fighting  as  it  really  is,  and  correct 
the  impression  that  prevails  in  America,  that  inhuman 
treatment  is  being  accorded  the  insurgent  prisoners  ?  " 

"Impossible,"  answered  the  general,  "  it  would  not 
be  safe." 

"  I  am  willing  to  take  all  the  danger,  if  your  Excel- 
lency will  allow  me  to  go,"  I  exclaimed. 

General  Weyler  laughed.  "There  would  be  no  dan- 
ger from  the  rebels,"  he  said,  "  but  from  the  Spanish 
soldiers.  They  are  of  a  very  affectionate  disposition, 
and  would  all  fall  in  love  with  you," 


332  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  I  will  keep  a  great  distance  from  the  fighting  if  you 
will  allow  me  to  go." 

The  general's  lips  closed  tightly,  and  he  said  : 

"  Impossible  !     Impossible  !  " 

"What  would  happen,"  1  asked,  "  if  I  should  be  dis- 
covered crossing  the  lines  without  permission  ?" 

"  You  would  be  treated  just  the  same  as  a  man." 

"  Would  I  be  sent  to  Castle  Moro  ?" 

"  Yes."     He  nodded  his  head  vigorously. 

That  settled  it.     I  decided  not  to  go. 

"  It  is  reported,"  I  said,  "  that  thirty  women  are  fight- 
ing under  General  Maceo.     Is  this  true  ? " 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  General.  "  We  took  one  woman 
yesterday.  She  was  dressed  in  man's  clothes,  and  was 
wielding  a  machete.  She  is  now  in  Moro  Castle. 
These  women  are  fiercer  than  the  men.  Many  of  them 
are  mulattos.     This  particular  woman  was  white." 

"  Do  you  not  think  that  the  life  of  a  newspaper  corre- 
spondent in  Havana  is  at  present  a  most  unhappy  one  ?  " 

"I  think  it  must  be;  for  they  make  me  unhappy.  If 
they  were  all  like  you  it  would  be  a  pleasure." 

"  Do  you  not  think  the  machete  a  most  dangerous 
implement  of  war  ?  " 

"  No.  It  is  simply  something  to  fight  with.  A  man 
fights  with  a  stick,  a  gun  or  a  sword.  It  is  not  so  cruel 
as  a  sword." 

"  Is  it  true  that  thumb-screws  are  used  to  extort  con- 
fessions from  prisoners  ?  " 

"  Not  by  the  Spaniards.  Rebels  use  all  these  things 
similar  to  those  that  were  used  in  the  Inquisition  tor- 
tures." 

"  Do  you  not  think  that  Maceo  and  Gomez  have 
shown  good  generalship  ? " 


UNIVERSITT 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  335 

"No.  Maceo  is  a  mulatto.  He  has  had  no  miHtary 
instruction.  Gomez  fought  under  me  at  Santo  Dom- 
ingo.    He  was  a  captain  and  I  was  a  colonel." 

"  Was  he  not  a  brave  soldier  ?" 

"  No  ;  he  never  distinguished  himself  in  any  way." 

"  Does  not  your  Excellency  think  the  Cuban  women 
very  pretty  ?  "  and  the  General  smiled  approvingly  yes. 

•'  Yes,  beautiful,"  he  said. 

"  And  the  American  women,  what  do  you  think  of 
them  ?  "  he  was  asked. 

"  If  you,  senorita,  are  a  fair  sample,  then  I  think  them 
adorable,"  and  the  General  bowed  with  his  hand  upon 
his  heart. 

"  Would  you  not  like  to  see  the  palace  ?  "  he  said. 

Then  General  Weyler  led  the  way  into  the  throne 
room,  which  was  just  off  the  audience  chamber.  It  is 
a  long,  stately,  high-ceilinged  apartment,  curtained  in 
brilliant  red  velvet.  The  floors  are  of  white  tiled  marble, 
and  the  walls  of  red  brocade  outlined  with  gold.  The 
throne  itself  is  on  a  raised  dais  at  the  end  of  the  room, 
right  under  a  portrait  of  King  Alfonso. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  outlet  to  this  apartment,  but 
the  general  placed  his  hand  upon  the  wall,  near  the 
throne,  and  almost  like  magic  a  panel  door  opened, 
which  the  general  held  until  I  had  passed  through. 

"  This  is  my  bedroom,"  he  said.  It  was  a  beautiful 
room.  The  big  brass  bed  was  canopied  in  fine  lace  and 
soft,  white  monogrammed  linen  showing  through.  The 
chairs  were  of  cane,  and  a  couch  was  drawn  near  the 
window,  where  flowers  were  blooming.  A  cut-glass 
liquor  set  was  on  a  small  table,  and  books  were  upon  a 
shelf  near  the  bed. 

"  Step  in  here,"  said  the  general,  and  he  opened  an- 


336  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

other  of  those  secret  doors  in  the  wall,  and  we  were  in 
the  enclosed  balcony.  The  general  pushed  open  one  of 
the  blinds,  and  the  palace  garden  was  before  us,  a  delight- 
ful breeze  coming  through  the  wavy  palm  trees  that 
lined  the  walk. 

The  sitting-room  opens  off  the  bedroom.  It  is  daint- 
ily furnished.  A  dressing  table  draped  with  lace  bears 
silver  toilet  implements  and  many  photographs.  A 
broad  table  near  the  window  is  furnished  with  writing 
materials  of  silver. 

General  Weyler  drew  aside  the  lace  that  hung  before 
the  window,  and  pointed  to  the  sea. 

"Is  it  not  beautiful  ?"  he  said. 

"This  room  is  like  a  lady's  boudoir,"  I  exclaimed. 
"  Has  not  your  Excellency  a  wife  and  daughters  who 
might  enjoy  all  this  with  you  ?" 

He  went  to  the  dressing  case  and  picked  up  a  large 
photograph  of  a  beautiful  young  girl  with  black  hair 
and  large  serious  eyes.  Across  the  corner  was  written 
in  Spanish:  "  To  my  father,"  with  an  affectionate  senti- 
ment inscribed  beneath. 

"  She  died  five  months  ago,"  he  said.  Then  he 
handed  me  another  picture,  that  of  a  bright,  sweet- 
faced  girl.     "  She  speaks  English,"  he  said. 

Then  came  the  picture  of  a  boy,  resembling  the  gen- 
eral across  the  forehead  and  eyes.  "  Has  he  not  a 
good  German  face  ?"  he  asked,  proudly.  After  this  he 
handed  me  a  card  upon  which  the  faces  of  his  smaller 
children  were  pictured,  the  heads  close  together.  "These 
are  my  babies,"  said  the  general. 

"Now  I  must  show  you  my  bathroom,"  he  continued, 
and  with  pardonable  pride  he  ushered  me  into  a  large 
room,  the  floor  and  walls  of  which  were  of  pale  blue 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  ^'j 

marble  There  were  Turkish  towels  everywhere  in  a 
beautiful  profusion,  which  I  had  not  before  observed  in 
Havana,  and  a  cane  couch  had  pillows,  also  covered 
with  toweling.  A  velvet  screen  shut  off  the  marble 
bath,  but  the  general  led  me  back  of  this  so  that  he 
might  show  me  the  shower  bath.  The  floor  was 
indented  beneath  the  shower,  and  the  general  stood  at 
a  safe  distance  and  pulled  the  brass  chain  to  show  me 
how  it  worked.     It  was  wonderful. 

"There  is  not  such  a  beautiful  bathroom  in  Havana," 
he  exclaimed  enthusiastically. 

Out  of  this  room  we  walked  into  a  spacious  billiard 
room,  the  long  windows  filled  with  flowers.  There  was 
a  fine  table  and  a  set  of  cues  in  a  case  upon  the  wall. 

"  Do  you  play,  general  ?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,  but  I  have  no  time  now,"  he  answered.  He 
ushered  me  into  a  stately  dining-room,  white  and  cool 
and  finely  furnished. 

A  long  table  was  spread  in  the  centre  of  the  room 
and  there  were  hundreds  of  roses  upon  it.  They  were 
in  tall  vases  and  in  circles  upon  the  white  cloth.  They 
filled  the  air  with  their  fragrance. 

"Will  you  not  accept  these?"  said  the  general,  se- 
lecting some  particularly  fine  ones  from  the  largest 
cluster. 

"  What  color  do  you  prefer  ? "  said  he.  Then  he 
handed  them  to  me  with  a  bow,  as  I  thanked  him. 

"  I  shall  be  most  happy  if  you  will  join  me  at  dinner 
this  evening,"  said  he,  "or,  if  not  convenient,  any  other 
evening ;  or  to  breakfast,  if  you  prefer.  Breakfast  is  at 
12  each  day,  and  dinner  at  8." 

I  thanked  the  general  for  his  courtesy,  and  he  con- 
tinued:  "You   must   not   think   it   odd  that  I  should 


3^8  THE.  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

invite  you.  I  know  that  American  ladies  can  dine  ot 
breakfast  with  a  gentleman  without  remark." 

I  assured  the  general  that  I  should  be  very  much 
honored  to  accept  his  kind  hospitality,  and  we  passed 
into  a  long  room,  half  balcony  and  half  windows.  Upon 
the  walls  were  wooden  shields  with  various  kinds  of 
sabres  fastened  to  them,  the  blades  beaming  in  the 
sunlight.  Upon  one  of  them  hung  a  wreath  of  laurels, 
tied  with  ribbons  of  red  and  yellow..  Upon  the  ribbons 
was  written  in  letters  of  gold  : 

"To  the  brave  and  illustrious  Dan  Valeriano  Weyler, 
Cobernador-General  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba." 

This  historical  penciling  possesses  unique  value,  be- 
cause it  is  by  a  woman  and  of  a  man  whose  position  in 
the  crisis  of  the  conflict  between  the  Spaniards  and 
Cubans  gives  him  the  interest  of  exceptional  importance. 

CONCERNING   THE   TROCHA, 

There  has  been  general  curiosity  about  the  latest  and, 
it  is  alleged,  Ihe  most  formidable  of  the  trochas  in 
Cuba,  and  the  Herald s  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
the  word  that  is  so  much  in  the  air  adds  to  the  public 
information.  The  Spanish  place  a  reliance  upon  the 
trocha  that  is  not  supported  by  their  experience,  and  the 
only  advantage  it  seems  to  be  to  them  is  it  ofifers  a  sug- 
gestion that  they  are  aggressive  when  they  are  at  a 
standstill,  and  so  magnifies  the  office  of  inertia.  The 
Herald  states  the  value  of  the  Spanish  military  line  from 
the  standpoints  of  the  combatants,  and  gives  a  sketch 
of  its  unreliability,  saying  that  that  particular  mili- 
tary form  of  defense,  known  as  a  trocha,  seems 
destined  to  play  an  extremely  important  part  in  the 
present  rebellion    in  Cuba.    The  great  length   of  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  339 

Island — 700  miles  from  east  to  west — with  an  average 
width  of  only  about  sixty-five  miles,  undoubtedly  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  establishing  military  roads  or  trochas 
between  points  on  the  north  and  south  coasts.  The 
design  of  the  trocha  is  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the 
insurgent  forces  from  one  district  to  another.  The 
strategic  value  of  the  line  is  doubted  by  many  Spanish 
commanders.  Among  these  is  Captain-General  Valma- 
ceda,  who,  after  inspecting  the  work  on  the  famous 
trocha  between  Jucara  and  Moron,  remarked  that  for 
military  purposes,  even  if  it  cost  nothing  to  build  and 
maintain,  he  would  not  accept  it  as  a  gift.  Maximo 
Gomez,  in  the  ten  years'  war,  apparently  demonstrated 
the  soundness  of  Valmaceda's  view  by  crossing  the 
trocha  seven  times,  once  carrying  with  him  his  wife 
and  children.  The  succeeding  captain-generals  of  Cuba, 
however,  including  Campos  and  Weyler,  have  been 
wedded  to  the  idea  of  a  trocha  as  of  great  military  utility. 
General  Campos  distributed  nearly  fifty  thousand 
men  along  the  Jucara  and  Moron  trocha,  hoping  to  keep 
Gomez  from  entering  the  province  of  Santa  Clara. 
Forts  were  built  along  the  line  at  every  fifteen  hundred 
yards,  and  communication,  was  kept  up  between  them. 
Trees  and  undergrowth  were  cleared  away  for  two  hun- 
dred yards,  and  every  precaution  was  taken  to  intercept 
the  insurgents.  Nevertheless  Gomez,  with  his  compact 
column  of  twenty-two  hundred  men,  not  only  safely 
crossed  the  trocha  on  October  29th  last,  but  soon  after- 
ward recrossed  it  into  Camaguery  and  met  Antonio 
Maceo.  Together  they  conducted  their  combined 
forces  again  across  this  supposedly  dangerous  line,  and 
began  the  campaign  of  the  "  Occident."  Still  General 
Campos  did  not  abandon  the  idea  of  the  trocha. 


340  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  insurgents  swept  on  across  Santa  Clara,  Matan- 
zas  and  Havana,  and  in  a  vain  hope  to  prevent  the  rev- 
olution spreading  into  Pinar  del  Rio,  General  Campos 
established  another  "  trocha  of  iron  "  between  the  cities 
of  Havana  and  Batabano,  on  the  south  coast,  a  distance 
of  only  twenty-eight  miles.  It  was  something  of  a  de- 
parture from  the  idea  of  the  old  trocha.  Forts  were,  as 
usual,  built  along  the  line  of  railroad,  but  in  addition  to 
this,  hundreds  of  freight  cars  were  covered  with  boiler 
iron,  with  narrow  openings  for  rifles,  five  feet  from  the 
floors,  and  these  moving  railroad  forts  were  kept  run- 
ning up  and  down  the  line  day  and  night.  After  a  care- 
ful inspection  of  this  improved  trocha,  Gomez  and 
Maceo,  with  their  combined  forces,  crossed  the  "  iron 
dead  line"  on  the  evening  of  January  4th,  without  firing 
a  shot. 

After  getting  safely  on  the  west  side,  Gomez  re- 
marked that  in  compliment  to  General  Campos,  the 
constructor,  or  promoter,  of  the  trocha,  the  insurgents 
ought  to  show  some  appreciation  of  his  efforts.  The 
rebel  forces,  therefore,  rode  back  some  distance  and 
tore  up  about  three  miles  of  the  track,  as  Gomez  said, 
"Just  to  let  the  Spaniards  know  that  we  have  noticed 
their  toy."  On  January  7th  Gomez  recrossed  this  rail- 
road trocha,  without  accident,  into  Havana  province, 
where  he  was  joined  by  Maceo  some  weeks  later.  But 
Maceo  seemed  to  have  taken  a  liking  to  Pinar  del 
Rio,  and,  instead  of  fulfilling  the  prophecy  of  Weyler 
by  hiding  himself  in  the  swamp,  of  the  Big  Shoe,  he 
again  swung  his  column  to  the  w^estward  through  the 
province  of  Havana,  again  crossing  the  trocha  into 
Pinar  del  Rio  without  deigning  to  notice  its  existence. 

An  observer  naturally  asks,   Where  were   the   fifty 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  34 1 

thousand  Spanish  troops  who  were  stationed  along  the 
line  for  the  express  purpose  of  preventing  such  rebel 
manoeuvres? 

The  Spanish  idiom,  "  Quien  sabe  ? "  seems  a  very 
appropriate  answer. 

Now  General  Weyler  has  taken  a  hand  at  trocha 
building.  He  has  constructed  a  trocha  from  the  town 
of  Mariel,  on  the  north  coast  of  Pinar  del  Rio,  twenty- 
five  miles  west  of  Havana,  to  Majona,  on  the  south 
coast,  a  distance  of  only  twenty-three  miles,  and  on  the 
success  of  this  trocha  preventing  Maceo's  supposed 
anxiety  to  reach  Gomez,  who,  with  fresh  forces,  is 
approaching  from  the  east.  General  Weyler  is  said  to 
stake  his  military  reputation. 

Mr.  Guerra,  treasurer  of  the  Cuban  revolutionary 
party,  and  Agustin  Agramonte,  the  nephew  of  the 
rebel  president,  Cisneros,  were  seen  with  reference  to 
the  probable  effectiveness  of  this  trocha  of  General 
Weyler.  Mr.  Guerra  said  :  "  Let  no  one  entertain  any 
anxiety  in  regard  to  the  safety  of  Maceo.  His  instruc- 
tions from  General  Gomez  were  not  only  to  enter  Pinar 
del  Rio,  but  to  maintain  the  revolution  in  that  province. 
If  he  crosses  the  trocha  into  Havana  it  will  be  only  to 
convince  General  Weyler  of  the  futility  of  the  trocha 
idea." 

Mr.  Agramonte  thought  the  trocha  an  "  excellent  in- 
stitution for  the  Cubans."     He  continued  : 

"  This  same  favorite  military  hobby  of  the  Spanish 
commanders  is  very  liable  to  prove  for  them  a  trocha 
of  death.  Fifty  thousand  men  cannot  defend  a  line 
twenty-three  miles  long.  It  takes  five  thousand  men 
five  feet  apart  to  cover  a  mile." 


342  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

AN    IRREPRESSIBLE    CONFLICT    OF    TESTIMONY. 

The  Double-Entry  Historical  Bookkeeping  of  the  Battles  in  Cuba — 
The  Remarkable  Characteristics  of  Discrepancy — The  Havana  and 
Key  West  Stories  Discolored  and  Distorted  Out  of  Recognition — 
— The  Responsibility  for  Nickel  Novel  Cuban  Reports — Dynamite 
and  the  Press — The  War  in  the  West  End. 

There  cannot  be  a  consecutive  history  of  the  horrors 
of  the  warfare  in  Cuba.  This  time  the  whole  Island  is 
involved,  and  the  coast  and  the  interior,  the  cities 
and  the  country,  are  included  in  the  calamity.  There  is 
a  special  activity  in  and  about  Havana,  caused  by 
the  necessity  of  supplying  the  Spanish  army,  and  the 
efforts  of  the  Havana  merchants,  who  have  somethings 
to  sell,  to  get  it  away  from  the  Island  that  is  vanishing 
in  a  vast  catastrophe. 

One  can  tell  by  the  sort  of  news  the  newspapers  con- 
tain whether  the  accounts  of  the  battles  come  by  wire  or 
by  grapevine.  For  example,  this  is  a  typical  Spanish 
story  : 

Guadalajara  battalion,  while  marching  to  San  Miguel,  met  a  party  of 
600  rebels,  commanded  by  Aguirre  and  Morejon.  A  fierce  fight  ensued, 
resulting,  it  is  said,  in  the  rebels  being  so  thoroughly  beaten  that  they 
fled  demoralized  from  the  field.  The  rebel  loss  was  stated  to  have  been 
sixty,  including  fourteen  killed.  The  Spanish  troops  were  reported  to 
have  lost  one  officer  and  three  soldiers  wounded. 

This  is  the  Cuban  interpretation  : 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  343 

The  affair  was  similar  to  others  in  which  *'  Pacificos,"  or  peaceful 
citizens,  have  been  killed  by  Spanish  troops.  Fourteen  of  the  dead  are 
said  to  have  been  employees  on  estates,  and  not  insurgents.  On  the 
Spanish  side  none  were  killed  and  only  three  wounded,  while  the  Cuban 
dead  exceeded  thirty.  Jaruco,  the  scene  of  this  "  combat,"  is  only  fifteen 
miles  from  Havana,  on  the  Matanzas  railroad. 

Here  is  a  representative  story  of  a  war  incident : 

Colonel  Zubia  reports  that  the  troops  under  his  command  met  a  band 
of  rebels  on  the  San  Jose  estate,  near  Camajuani.  A  brisk  fight  followed, 
in  which  the  rebels  lost  four  killed.  The  insurgents  retreated,  but  were 
followed  by  the  troops,  who  again  attacked  them.  The  rebels  made  a 
stout  resistance,  but  could  not  withstand  the  fire  of  the  troops,  and  were 
compelled  to  retreat,  leaving  eleven  dead  on  the  field.  The  troops, 
according  to  the  report,  had  only  three  wounded  in  both  fights. 

Another  of  the  same  sort : 

While  Colonel  Pinto's  command  was  reconnoitering  on  the  Conchita 
estate,  near  Mariel,  a  rebel  band,  under  Perico  Delgardo,  was  encoun- 
tered. The  insurgents  occupied  strong  positions  in  the  Rubi  hills,  but 
the  troops  dislodged  them,  and  pursued  them  into  the  mountains.  The 
loss  of  the  insurgents  is  said  to  have  been  heavy.  They  left  twelve  dead 
on  the  field,  and  two  men,  who  were  wounded,  died  later.  The  troops 
had  seven  wounded. 

Details  of  the  minor  matters  are  marked  by  the  views 
of  those  who  bear  the  intelHgence,  as  are  the  outhnes  of 
large  operations  in  this  case,  of  a  small  one  for  example  : 

Colonel  Escudero,  while  reconnoitering  in  the  Zapata  swamp,  des- 
troyed four  rebel  camps,  and  had  several  engagements  with  rebel  bands, 
under  the  Socorros  and  Sanabria,  killing  four  insurgents. 

And  this  the  same  : 

General  Melquizo,   at   the    Zaldiva    farm,   this  province — Havana — 

has  had  a  skirmish  with  the  insurgent  leader  Castilla  ;  the  latter  left  ten 

men  killed,  and  retired  with  a  number  of  wounded. 
C— 20 


344  "^^^  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  comment  will  be  no  Spaniard  hurt  in  this  case, 
and  there  is  no  mistaking  the  paternity  of  this : 

During  recent  engagements  between  the  Spanish  troops,  under  Gen- 
eral Fort,  in  the  Havana  province,  and  the  insurgents,  the  latter  admit 
having  lost  82  killed  and  157  wounded. 

Reports  received  here  from  Lacret's  band  of  insurgents  show  a  very 
demoralized  condition  of  things.  It  is  said  that  Lacret  is  frequently 
intoxicated,  and  that  of  twenty  American  members  of  an  expedition  from 
the  United  States,  which  recently  joined  him,  five  have  been  killed  and 
the  rest  are  disgusted.  They  say  they  have  been  deceived,  that  this  is  no 
war,  that  there  is  no  fighting,  and  that  they  are  living  in  swamps  without 
clothing,  compelled  to  eat  bad  food,  that  the  agreements  entered  into 
with  them  have  not  been  carried  out,  and  that  they  are  without  leaders. 

General  Aguirre  of  the  Cuban  forces  wrote  recently  : 

We  are  close  to  Havana,  and  on  March  22d  my  forces  raided  Guana- 
taco,  which  is  but  five  miles  from  the  capital.  Guanataco  is  the 
*' Brooklyn  of  Havana,"  joined  by  ferry  service,  and  has  a  population 
of  45,000. 

No  difficulty  was  encountered  by  us  in  the  assault,  and  we  secured  60 
horses,  150  Remington  rifles,  14,000  cartridges,  and  considerable  cloth- 
ing and  medicine. 

Only  one  of  our  men  was  wounded,  but  I  have  learned  that  the 
Spanish  lost  several  soldiers. 

The  following  is  the  way  one  of  Maceo's  "  battles  " 
appeared  after  it  reached  Havana  by  a  private  convey- 
ance, and  flashed  through  the  secret  channels  to  Tampa, 
from  which  it  passed  into  American  history  : 

A  combination  of  Spanish  columns  was  attempted  near  Limonar,  where 
Maceo  was  apparently  intending  to  cross  the  line  into  Havana  province. 
This  also  failed,  for  the  reason  that  Colonel  Tort,  with  the  Almancea  bat- 
talion, a  newly  arrived  body  of  green  recruits  from  Spain,  who  had  never 
seen  fighting,  attempted  to  hold  the  vital  point  on  the  lines.  Maceo's 
veterans  swept  down  upon  them,  and  broke  through  the  combination  with 
a  fierce  fight  which  fairly  wiped  out  the  Almancea  battalion. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  345 

The  Spanish  retired  in  the  direction  of  Limonar,  carrying  about  loo 
wounded  ;  and,  besides  the  nineteen  dead  they  carried  away,  left  seven 
on  the  field,  whom  the  rebels  buried. 

The  functions  of  the  telegraph  operators  in  breaking 
up  the  Spanish  combinations  are  sometimes  candidly 
set  forth  as  in  this  curious  instance  : 

Gen.  Weyler's  staff  planned  a  manoeuver  which  would  bring  all  the 
forces  into  conjunction  surrounding  Maceo's  army  at  a  point  one  mile 
from  Colisea.  The  orders  were  sent  by  telegraph  to  Gens.  Prat, 
Linares  and  Aldecoa,  and  Col.  Hernandez,  requiring  them  to  make  that 
place  at  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  telegraph  operator  let  the 
message  go  correctly  to  Gen.  Prat,  but  changed  the  hour  to  6  in  the 
other  messages  ;  and  when  Gen.  Prat  came  upon  Maceo  he  had  about 
3,500  men  and  the  rebels  over  8,000  cavalry.  Gen.  Prat  was  forced  to 
retreat  with  the  column  badly  shattered. 

The  Spaniards  had  another  day  of  hard  luck  when  at 

Cayojabos,  the  rebels  took  possession  of  the  burned  town  for  a  camp. 
Gen.  Linares,  Col.  Francis  and  Col,  Inclan  attacked  them.  Col. 
Frances  arrived  first.  Gen.  Linares  and  Col.  Inclan  heard  cannonading 
and  rifle  fire  and  hurried  on.  The  fight  here  lasted  four  hours,  and  the 
Spanish  had  four  captains  and  seven  lieutenants  killed,  the  killed  and 
wounded  soldiers  numbered  nearly  300.  The  rebels  captured  1,000 
rifles,  and,  on  account  of  their  strong  position  in  the  town,  got  through 
the  day  with  about  eighty  losses,  dead  and  wounded,  as  nearly  as  can 
be  learned. 

Then  we  have  something  of  another  sort : 

Col.  Hernandez  reports  having  a  fight  with  the  rebel  bands  of  Masso 
and  Acea  near  San  Felipe.  The  enemy  occupied  strong  positions,  but 
were  attacked  with  great  vigor  by  the  troops,  and  finally  fled,  leaving 
seven  dead  on  the  field.     The  troops  had  five  men  wounded. 

Col.  Moncada  reports  having  had  several  engagements  with  rebel 
bands  near  Cienfuegos,  in  which  the  enemy  had  four  men  killed  and 
seventy  wounded,  and  the  Spanish  troops  had  five  wounded. 


346  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Just  five  men  wounded  every  time !  We  all  know 
the  strange  coincidences  and  persistent  uniformities  de- 
veloped in  statistical  tables. 

And  again  the  Spaniards  were  slaughtered  in  the 
same  part  of  the  country : 

The  troops  of  Gen.  Linares  had  begun  to  arrive  to  assist  Hernandez 
and  Inclan.  They  brought  cavalry  and  artillery.  The  Spanish  forces 
were  moving  along  the  road  which  lies  between  Candelaria  and  Guan- 
ajay.  It  was  raining  in  torrents.  Suddenly  the  whole  division  found 
itself  in  an  ambush  ;  4,000  rebels  were  behind  stone  fences  on  both  sides 
of  the  road,  and  as  soon  as  the  fighting  began  they  closed  in  front  and 
rear.  There  was  fighting  for  two  hours.  The  rebels  used  the  ammuni- 
tion they  had  captured  the  day  before.  They  captured  two  cannons 
and  more  ammunition  and  inflicted  such  losses  upon  the  Spanish  that 
a  special  train  was  sent  out  from  Havana  to  bring  in  the  dead  and 
wounded.  It  was  even  given  out  at  the  palace  that  the  troops  had  suf- 
fered two  captains  killed,  four  lieutenants  wounded,  and  fifty-seven  sol- 
diers wounded.     There  were  about  fifty  soldiers  killed. 

Something  wrong  here.  No  such  news  as  that  was 
ever  given  out  at  the  palace,  at  least  not  since  the  time 
of  Campos. 

And  the  Spaniards  had  their  innings,  if  we  can  be- 
lieve their  own  accounts  : 

General  Gonzalez  Munoz  reports  that  he  has  dispersed  the  rebels  who 
were  besieging  Fort  Zanja,  near  Manzanillo.  He  went  to  the  assistance 
of  the  beleagured  garrison  with  a  column  of  troops  on  four  gunboats 
and  two  tugs.  The  rebels  retired  as  soon  as  the  troops  landed,  and  the 
gunboats  opened  fire  upon  them.  The  garrison  made  a  glorious  de- 
fense. They  were  besieged  for  five  days  by  3,600  rebels,  commanded 
by  Mayai,  Rodrigues,  Rabi  and  other  leaders. 

The  fort,  when  relieved,  was  without  water,  the  tank  having  been 
destroyed  by  the  rebel  fire.  The  insurgents  fired  1 1 1  volleys  of  grape- 
shot.  They  had  two  rapid  fire  guns  that  were  recently  landed  at 
Guayabal.     The  artillery  was  served  by  American  gunners. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY,  347 

There  is  an  unusual  pretense  of  authenticity  about 
this  paragraph  : 

The  official  report  of  the  fight  on  the  Fermina  ranch,  near  Jovellanos, 
states  that  the  rebels  lost  eight  killed.  The  troops  lost  seven  wounded. 
The  Spaniards  pursued  the  rebels,  and  in  skirmishes  killed  eighteen 
without  loss  to  themselves. 

One  of  the  troubles  with  this  history  of  the  war  by 
double-entry  bookkeeping  is  the  impracticability  of  the 
verification  in  many  cases  of  the  incidents.  The  two 
inevitable  tales  about  the  same  battle  are  so  different 
in  all  important  particulars,  with  perhaps  the  exception 
of  locality  and  names  of  officers,  that  the  laborious 
seeker  of  truth  is  driven  close  upon  the  theory  that  in- 
stead of  one  affair  there  must  have  been  two  or  more. 

Mr.  Frank  Clark,  agent  of  the  United  Press,  very  re- 
cently from  Havana,  and  a  most  vigilant  observer, 
makes  a  statement  that  may  assist  to  clear  the  minds 
of  analytical  readers.     He  says  : 

Before  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Weyler,  correspondents  were  permitted  to 
accompany  Spanish  columns,  and  in  the  early  stage  of  the  war  Spanish 
generals  even  permitted  correspondents  to  visit  the  enemy's  camps. 
Since  the  enemy  has  grown  from  scattered  bands  to  organized  and 
fairly  well  armed  and  drilled  columns,  it  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death 
for  a  correspondent  to  penetrate  the  rebel  lines.  He  would  be  wel- 
comed by  the  insurgents,  but  shot  upon  his  return  to  Spanish  camps.  I 
have  had  experience  with  four  captain-generals — Calleja,  Campos, 
Marin  and  Weyler.  The  last  is  the  only  one  of  them  who  made  the 
life  of  a  war  correspondent  burdensome.  Suave  and  courteous  in  his 
talk,  profuse  in  his  offers  to  aid  correspondents  in  sifting  truth  from 
error,  polite  in  his  reception  of  all  Americans,  yet  he  has  a  way  of  im- 
pressing upon  a  correspondent  without  putting  it  into  words,  that  it 
would  conduce  to  his  personal  safety  to  report  nothing  but  Spanish  offi- 
cial news.  As  these  reports  fail  to  mention  a  single  insurgent  success 
from  the  beginning,  and  are  a  record  of  many  Spanish  victories  which 


348  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

exist  on  paper  only,  the  correspondent  who  accepts  them  at  face  value 
beguiles  his  readers.  If  Spain  were  winning  battles,  why  not  permit 
accredited  correspondents  to  accompany  columns  of  troops  and  report 
from  personal  observation  ?  If  battles  are  fought  whenever  announced 
officially,  why  are  safe-conduct  passes  refused  to  correspondents  when 
all  is  over? 

The  Spanish  correspondents  of  Madrid  papers,  the  Spanish  reporters 
of  Havana  papers,  all  subject  to  the  press  censor,  and  the  American 
correspondefits  are  penned  up  in  Havana,  and  every  effort  is  made  to 
keep  the  world  in  darkness  as  to  what  is  being  done  in  Cuba.  Every 
cable  despatch  is  carefully  edited  before  it  can  be  transmitted.  Every. 
thing  unfavorable  to  Spain  or  favorable  to  the  Cuban  cause  is  elimin- 
ated. The  mails  are  searched  to  prevent  newspaper  correspondence 
being  sent  off.  But  with  all  these  precautions  the  truth  cannot  be  sup- 
pressed, and  every  Wednesday  and  Saturday  the  papers  of  the  United 
States  arrive  in  Havana,  and  long  accounts  of  rebel  victories  and  Span- 
ish brutalities,  which  are  true,  are  read  by  the  English-speaking  resi- 
dents and  translated  for  the  benefit  of  Spaniards. 

It  is  this  system  of  suppressing  the  facts  officially, 
and  doctoring  the  news  for  the  bulletins  until  they  are 
ciphers,  that  inflames  the  imaginative  faculties  and  pro- 
duces the  daily  dime  novel  of  current  Cuban  literature. 

But  there  is  a  mystery  in  the  atmosphere  which  in- 
volves a  fact — a  most  notable  one  —  of  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  volunteers,  so  that  the  result  of  two  candid 
and  intelligent  men  trying  to  tell  the  truth  about  them 
is  as  follows  : 

(THIS  IS  FROM  AN  INSURGENT  GENERAL,  OPERATING  NEAR 
HAVANA,  AND  TELLING  OF  HIS  EXPERIENCES  IN  A  CAPTURED 
TOWN.) 

To  demonstrate  the  feeling  of  the  volunteers  in  the  town  I  will  give 
an  episode  of  my  raid.  One  of  my  men  demanded  of  a  Spanish  grocer, 
a  volunteer,  the  arms  and  ammunition  in  his  possession.  His  answer 
was  :  "  If  you  promise  to  respect  my  property  then  you  shall  be  welcome 
to  it.  I  do  not  hate,  and  will  not  fight,  the  revolutionists  while  they  do 
me  no  harm.     I  would  fight  for  the  integrity  of  Spain,  but  this  is   not 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  349 

Spain,  it  is  Cuba,  and  you  should  have  as  much  right  to  govern  your- 
selves as  we  have  in  Spam.  The  volunteer  service  has  already  cost  me 
many  hundred  dollars.  My  comrades  have  the  same  story  to  tell,  and 
if  you  could  convince  us  that  our  families  and  properties  would  be  pro- 
tected, we  would  all  join  the  revolution." 

(FROM   A   HAVANA  CORRESPONDENT  RELATING  PERSONAL  CON- 
VERSATION.) 

The  source  of  danger  is  the  volunteers.  I  was  talking  with  my  hotel 
waiter  recently  after  he  had  been  away  for  a  day.  He  said  he  was  out 
doing  duty  as  a  volunteer.  He  is  a  little  sawed-off  ignoramus,  and  I 
was  curious  enough  to  ask  him  how  his  companions  felt  toward  Uncle 
Sam. 

"  Muerta  Senor  Sam,"  he  hissed,  bringing  his  fist  down  with  a 
whack  on  the  table. 

"  Death  to  Mr.  Sam  ?  "  I  repeated.      "  Why  so  ? " 

"  He  is  going  to  help  the  insurrectors.     We'll  have  to  kill  them  all." 

**  But  I'm  an  American;  would  you  kill  me,  too?" 

He  seemed  to  be  confronted  by  a  situation  for  a  moment  only,  when 
he  said,  sadly  and  earnestly: 

"I  am  your  friend,  Senor,  but  I  should  have  to  kill  you." 

I  was  talking  with  an  intelligent  Spaniard  who  has  a  large  business 
house  here  in  town,  and  he  was  asking  me: 

"  What  in  the  world  is  the  matter  at  Washington?  Is  Mr.  Cleveland 
going  to  desert  Cuba  at  the  crisis?  Can  it  be  the  action  of  Congress 
upon  belligerency  is  to  meet  with  his  disapproval  ?  Why  haven't  we 
heard  that  is  all  fin " 

At  that  moment  another  Spaniard  came  up. 

"  Senor,  allow  me  to  present  my  friend .     As  I  was  just  telling 

this  American  gentleman,  Spain  will  find  every  loyal  son  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  fighting  till  the  last  drop  of  blood  is  shed  to  avenge  such 
an  insult  to  our  national  honor  as  this  uncalled-for  interference  of 
America." 

Since  I  have  come  to  have  more  or  less  friendly  relations  with  the 
second  senor,  I  have  found  that  he  is  a  physician  of  considerable  prom- 
inence, and  when  we  met  accidentally,  when  we  were  alone,  his  first 
question  was: 

"  Do  you  think  there  is  any  danger  of  the  Congress  modifying  those 
resolutions  if  there  is  a  joint  session  ?" 


350  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

There  was  an  attempt  at  the  Spanish  palace  after  the 
explosion  that  broke  the  monotony  of  the  movements 
of  eminent  officials  with  a  shock  that  rent  solid 
masonry,  to  create  the  belief  that  it  was  caused  by  a 
gasoline  engine  which  had  suddenly  collapsed.  It  is 
surprising,  however,  to  those  who  know  the  desperate 
temper  of  the  Cubans,  that  dynamite  was  not  set  off  in 
Havana  long  ago.  The  use  of  it  has  been  freely  talked 
of  for  months,  but  confined  to  the  destruction  of  rail- 
roads. There  is  a  circumstance  going  to  show  that 
the  shock  of  an  explosive  in  the  palace  was  caused  by 
some  one  who  was  unfamiliar  with  the  surroundings  or 
shaken  by  timidity — at  least  that  he  lacked  knowledge 
or  nerve,  and  was  not  of  the  nature  of  the  Russian  or 
Spanish  bomb  throwers.  The  explosion  took  place  in 
the  corner  of  the  palace  most  remote  from  the  apart- 
ments of  the  captain-general.  If  it  was  meant  for  him, 
there  was  inferiority  of  purpose  or  information.  There 
is  a  Key  West  story  that  introduces  as  a  possible  factor 
another  force  of  civilization — poison  ! 

There  is  a  rumor  that  the  Spaniards  have  turned  loose 
mules  loaded  with  poisoned  provisions,  and  an  insur- 
gent general  says  :  "Known  Spanish  troops  poison 
wells,  and,  to  break  up  camp,  leave  poisoned  provisions 
behind  in  the  hopes  of  their  falling  into  our  hands.  In 
the  last  war  this  was  a  common  thing." 

The  better  way  is  to  disbelieve  much  that  the  com- 
batants declare  until  there  is  a  demonstration  of  the 
infamies  that  should  be  incredible. 

The  captain-general  has  issued  a  proclamation  order- 
ing severe  measures  to  be  taken  against  the  press,  and 
that  penalties  be  imposed  upon  newspapers  publishing 
articles  lessening  the  prestige  of  the  Spanish  national- 


^  OF  THE 

VER 
CALIFORNIA, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  353 

ity,  the  army  or  the  authorities,  and  empowering  the 
governors  of  provinces  to  suspend  the  pubhshing  of 
any  papers  continuing  to  infringe  upon  their  orders. 
The  captain-general  is  not,  however,  strong  enough  to 
suspend  the  law  of  precedents,  and  order  that  his  coun- 
try shall  be  served  by  the  freedom  of  the  press  to  pub- 
lish live  news.  It  will  take  more  than  one  revolution 
to  arrive  at  that  beatitude. 

Meantime  there  is  a  letter  from  Maximo  Gomez,  say- 
ing: 

We  have  a  great  military  advantage  over  the  enemy  in  the  incapacity 
of  the  majority  of  Weyler's  generals.  The  false  official  reports  of  sup- 
posed victories  with  which  they  cynically  pretend  to  deceive  themselves, 
their  government  and  the  world,  contribute  to  the  speedy  triumph  of  the 
revolution.  No  human  work  which  has  for  a  base  falseness  and  infamy, 
can  be  either  firm  or  lasting. 

Everything  that  Spain  orders  and  sends  to  this  land,  that  she  has 
drenched  with  the  blood  of  her  own  children,  only  serves  to  ruin  her 
power.  And  no  man  is  so  well  chosen  as  General  Weyler  to  represent 
in  these  times  and  in  America  the  Spain  of  Philip  II. 

The  commanders-in-chief  on  both  sides  have  notably 
forcible  ways  of  expressing  themselves. 

In  nothing  during  the  whole  course  of  the  war  have 
there  been  more  positive  disagreements  than  concerning 
the  position  of  Maceo  in  the  west  end.  This  is  a  typical 
and  test  case.  It  was  the  boast  of  the  Spaniards  that 
the  western  province  was  truly  loyal  to  them.  There 
the  feet  of  rebels  had  never  polluted  the  soil  save  by 
stealth.  One  would  have  supposed  from  Spanish  con- 
versation that  if  the  rebels  ever  got  there  they  would 
be  suppressed  instantly  by  the  peninsular  patriots. 
When  the  tide  of  invasion  sweeping  over  the  Island 
passed  Havana,  and  poured,  like  a  river   of   lava,  in 


354  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

Pinar  del  Rio,  the  people  welcomed  the  destroyers  with 
open  arms,  and  there  was  rejoicing  in  the  villages. 

After  Captain-General  Weyler  had  reorganized  the 
scattered  and  bewildered  columns,  and  imparted  to 
the  troops  some  of  his  own  confidence,  he  ordered 
them  to  be  put  in  motion,  and  the  insurgents,  short  of 
cartridges,  and  without  hospitals  to  save  their  wounded 
from  death  in  languishing  captivity,  evaded  combats 
until  they  found,  through  superiority  in  local  informa- 
tion, advantageous  opportunities,  and  then  they  behaved 
with  extreme  caution,  and  the  larger  bodies  drifted 
rather  than  were  driven  eastward*;  and  the  report  was, 
Gomez  was  sick  and  going  into  rainy  weather  quarters, 
while  theMaceos  would  conduct  some  skirmishing.  The 
Spanish  confidence  was  higher  than  it  had  been  for 
months,  when  it  was  dashed  by  rebel  recklessness  close 
to  Havana.  The  peculiar  sluggishness  of  the  Spanish 
columns  until  they  have  positive  orders  to  do  explicit 
things  gives  time  for  rebel  raids.  The  Spaniards  are 
not  cowardly  in  the  sense  of  being  afraid  of  the  enemy, 
but  they  are  fearfully  particular  about  their  orders,  and 
there  is  next  to  no  independent  initiative. 

The  rebels  rushed  into  villages  within  half  an  hour  of 
Havana,  and  had  their  way  for  hours,  watching  all  the 
while  for  the  signs  of  Spanish  activity,  and  going  away 
at  full  gallop  with  such  necessaries  as  they  could  gather 
as  soon  as  there  was  choice  between  a  heavy  fight  or 
flight.  By  the  time  the  Spanish  are  massed  to  their 
satisfaction  and  in  motion,  the  insurgents  are  out  of 
sight.  The  return  of  Antonio  Maceo  to  Pinar  Del  Rio 
was  to  the  Spaniards  a  surprise,  but  the  statement  is 
current  in  Cuba  that  he  was  expected,  and  the  secret 
well  kept ;  also  that  there  had  been  carefully  stored,  in 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY  355 

anticipation  of  his  coming,  stores  of  supplies  ;  that  there 
was  corn  ready  for  his  horses  and  cattle  ;  sheep  and 
hogs  and  potatoes  in  plenty  secreted  in  the  mountains. 
Upon  this  is  based  the  Cuban  theory  that  Maceo  is  not 
undergoing  great  hardships,  and  is  not  disturbed  by 
decisive  movements,  though  his  position  is  well  known. 
It  is  claimed  for  him  that  he  has  the  country  with  him, 
and  that  there  are  signals  arranged  for  surf  boats,  by 
which  supplies  are  landed  in  some  of  the  many  harbors 
that  are  a  feature  of  the  coast  line. 

There  have  been  several  of  the  sharp  skirmishes  that 
in  Cuba  are  classed  as  battles,  between  the  troops  of 
Maceo  and  the  Spaniards  westward  of  the  trocha,  and 
each  side  claims  victory,  the  rebels,  as  usual,  riding 
down  the  Spaniards,  hewing  them  in  pieces  and  captur- 
ing cartridges  ;  the  Spaniards  winning  the  fields  by  irre- 
sistible bayonet  charges.  The  fact  of  deadly  combats  is 
attested  by  the  names  of  officers  on  both  sides  killed 
and  wounded,  but  the  narratives  are  vague  enough  to 
allow  large  scope  for  controversy  without  descending 
to  tantalizing  particulars.  There  is  a  waiting  game 
played.  Maceo  feels  that  he  is  doing  the  cause  of  his 
country  service  when  he  remains  in  the  west  ;  that  time 
is  against  the  Spaniards,  and  they  far  outnumber  him, 
and  have  him  located.     It  is  their  turn  to  move. 

The  Spanish  say  Maceo's  men  are  nearly  naked,  hun- 
gry, and  despondent,  and  wanting  to  surrender,  and 
must  soon  come  to  a  bad  end  if  they  can  be  prevented 
from  moving  eastward  ;  and  the  troops  work  on  at  their 
trocha,  in  high  spirits  that  they  only  have  to  fortify  a 
line  and  stay  there.  This  is  regarded  as  equivalent  to 
aggression,  but  it  shows  the  captain-general  is  imitating 
the  failures  of  predecessors. 


3S6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE    RECORD    OF    DESOLATION    AND    DESPAIR. 

The  Torch  is  Mightier  than  the  Sword — Lists  of  the  Plantations  and 
Towns  Burned — Dramatic  Scenes  and  Thrilling  Incidents  in  the 
Doomed  Island — The  Work  of  Destruction  the  Only  Occupation — 
Utter  Collapse  of  Business — Famine  Close  at  Hand — Inhumanity 
and  the  Cuban  Cry  for  Cartridges — A  New  York  Deserter — A  Busi- 
ness Man  has  One  Hope  of  Escaping  Ruin — The  Truth  of  the  Civil 
Government  of  Cuba — The  Cry  for  Cartridges. 

"Cuba  to-day  only  presents  pools  of  blood  dried  by 
conflagrations,"  are  the  terrible  words  of  Maximo  Go- 
mez in  a  letter  to  the  Cuban  delegate  at  Washington, 
and  he  goes  on,  "  Our  enemies  are  burning  the  houses, 
to  deprive  us,  according  to  them,  of  our  quarters  for 
spring."  The  old  chieftain  adds,  that  "  we  will  never 
use  reprisals,  for  we  understand  that  the  revolution  will 
not  need  to  triumph  by  being  cruel  and  sanguinary." 
The  insurgents  are,  however,  freely  using  the  torch, 
that  has  become  mightier  than  the  sword — than  even 
the  machete. 

The  Spanish  authorities  have , furnished  a  list  of  plan- 
tations destroyed  by  insurgents  during  this  war  in  the 
four  western  provinces — precisely  those  not  affected 
seriously  by  war  until  in  course  of  the  struggle  that  is 
progressing : 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


357 


Name. 


Province. 


Proprietor. 


Annual 

production 

Bags. 


.  Ernesto  Longa 20,000 

.A.   Ledesma 12,000 

.Guillermo  de  Sealdo.  . .  5,000 

.Conde   Reunion 15,000 

.Gutierrez  Aldave 12,000 

.Conde   Lombilo 12,000 


.  Vincante  Cagigal 15,000 

.  Vicente  Cagigal 4,000 

.Y.   Fernandez 10,000 

.  Joaquin  de  Mier 20,000 


Mercedita Pinar  del  Rio. 

Tomasta Pinar  del  Rio. 

Asentista Pinar  del  Rio. 

Begona Pinar  del  Rio. 

San  Juan  Bautesta. . .  Pinar  del  Rio. 

San  Gabriel Pinar  del  Rio . 

SanUago Pinar  del  Rio. .  .J.  A.    Bascal 10,000 

San  Augustin Pinar  del  Rio. . .  F.  Delvalle 5, 000 

San  Claudio Pinar  del  Rio. . .  Eduardo  Delgado 15,000 

Gerado Pinar  del  Rio. . 

Santa  Teresa Pinar  del  Rio . . 

Guacamaya Pinar  del  Rio. 

Santa  Joquin Pinar  del  Rio. 

Salvador Havana Conde  Berreto 30,000 

San  Augustin Havana Francisco  Casuso 15,000 

Teresa Havana Domingo  Arango 45, 000 

San  Jose Havana Carolina  Lacoste 80,000 

Emilia Havana Manue  Escobedo 10,000 

Manuelito Havana Conde   Duana 40,000 

Luisa Havana Jose  M.  Herrera 15,000 

Santisima  Trinidad.. .  Havana Jose  Arrogo 12,000 

San  Leon Havana Sierra  Y  Toscano 12,000 

San  Antonio Havana    Mamerto  Pulido 15,000 

La  Victoria Havana Viuda  de  Lejalde 10,000 

Tivo  Tivo Havana Herderoz  de  Macia.  .  .  .  8,000 

PurisimaConcepcion.  Havana Carlos  Mazorra 6,000 

Aitrevido Matanzas Foyo  Y.  Diaz 25,cx)0 

Saratoga Matanzas Drake  &  Co ro,ooo 

Laberi'nto Matanzas Sarafin  Mederos 30,000 

Carlota Matanzas J.  Guerendian 20,000 

Esperanza Matanzas Herederos  de  Pelayo  .  .  15,000 

Arco  Iris Matanzas L.  de  Ulzurrun 14,000 

Diana Matanzas Herderos  de  Baro 40,000 

Santa  Leocadia Santa  Clara Raurell  Hermans 10,000 

San  Jose Santa  Clara Cacicdo  y  Cia. 8,000 

San  Antonio Santa  Clara Cacicdo  y  Cia 5, 000 

Carmen Havana Mearinan  Crespo 100,000 

Santa  Ana Havana 15,000 

Dos  Hermanos Havana Felix  Sardinas 16,000 

Semillero Havana Herederos  de  Arango. .  40,000 


Totals 807,000 


Value  of 
stock  and 
machinery. 

$250,000 
150,000 

55.000 
100,000 
100,000 
100,000 

85,000 

50,000 
120,000 
140,000 

35.000 
210,000 
200,000 
300,000 
200,000 
400,000 
700,000 
100,000 
300,000 
180,000 
140,000 
140,000 
300,000 
200,000 
120,000 

90,000 
250,000 
150,000 
350,000 
150,000 
200,000 
100,000 
400,000 
180,000 
120,000 

55,000 

1,000,000 

200,000 

300,000 

500,000 

^8,915,000 


To  this  must  be  added  at  least  a  hundred  cane  fields, 


358  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  the  following-  sugar  estates,  which  had  buildings 
and  machinery,  but  sent  their  cane  to  be  ground  else- 
where : 

Name.  Province.  Proprietor. 

Santa  Ysabel Pinar  del  Rio .A.  Otamendi. 

Dos  Hermanos Pinar  del  Rio Conde  de  la  Reunion. 

Nueva  Embresa Pinar  del  Rio Gutierrez  Aldave. 

Rojas Pinar  del  Rio J.   Barberia. 

Varela Pinar  del  Rio E.  Uzabiaga. 

Recompensa Pinar  del  Rio Marques  Veitia. 

Manuelito Pinar  del  Rio Eduardo  Delgado. 

Redencion Pinar  del  Rio Emilo  Kessel. 

Loboria Pinar  del  Rio Gutierrez  Aldave. 

Corojal Pinar  del  Rio Abelarde  Ledesma. 

Plazaola Havana Ygnacio  Herrera. 

Esperanza Havana Conde  Romero. 

Aljovin Havana Candido  Matos. 

Concordia Havana J.  Romay. 

Encarnacion Havana Julio  Hidalgo. 

San  Ysidro Havana M.  Borrell. 

Amistade Matanzas Heredos  de  Macia. 

Capitolio Matanzas Heredos  de  Macia. 

San  Luis Matanzas Ygnacio  Herrera. 

Peria Matanzas Pedro  Matiarto. 

Diamante Matanzas L.  Angulo. 

San  Bias Matanzas J.  M.  Ponce. 

Penon Matanzas Viuda  de  Quesne. 

Intropdio Matanzas L.  Solerre. 

Sanjoaquin Matanzas Gonzalo  Pedroso. 

Elrico Havana Pedro  F.  Decastro. 

This  list  of  forty-two  towns  burned  is  charged  to  the 
Spaniards : 

Los  Arroyos,  Ranchula, 

Juan  y  Martinez,  Salamanca, 

Vinales,  Boniato, 

Sandiego  de  los  Bancs,  Bejucalo, 

Torriente,  Catelina, 

Auroro,  .  Jaruco, 

Flora,  Los  Abicus, 

Ei  Cristo,  San  Juan  de  los  Yeras, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  359 

Paso  Real,  Puerta  Piton, 

Los  Palacios,  Ramon  de  los  Yaguas, 

Santa  Cruz,  Bainao, 

Bahia  Honda,  San  Nicholas, 

Roque,  Sieba, 

Maia,  Benavides, 

Los  Abenus,  Cardenas, 

Dos  Bacos,  Ibarra, 

Cabanas,  Navajos, 

Cayapabos,  Carrafalo, 

San  Diego  de  Nunez,  Cartagena, 

Quiabra  Hacha,  Moron, 

Sagua  de  los  Ramos,  Helena  del  Sur. 

In  justifying  the  war  of  the  torch  and  explaining  his 
invasion  of  the  west  end,  Antonio  Maceosays,  in  a  letter 
dated  at  El  Rubi,  at  Pinar  del  Rio  : 

"  I  have  been  compelled  by  circumstances  to  resort  to 
extreme  measures.  General  VVeyler,  in  his  wild  desire 
of  gaining  glory  and  of  obstructing  the  recognition  of 
our  belligerency,  went  in  his  proclamation  so  far  as  to 
promise  the  planters  that  they  would  be  able  to  grind 
their  sugar  cane,  while  to  the  government  he  gave  the 
assurance  that  the  elections  could  be  peaceably,  held, 
and  to  the  country  at  large  he  declared  that  the  Pinar 
del  Rio  and  some  other  province  would  be  soon  paci- 
fied. Some  of  the  planters,  showing  themselves  willing 
to  believe  that  the  general  would  keep  his  promise,  be- 
gan to  get  ready  for  grinding  the  cane.  Under  the 
circumstances  I  made  up  my  mind  to  invade  Pinar  del 
Rio  again,  in  order  to  show  that  we  are  fully  able  to 
compel  obedience  to  the  orders  of  our  government. 

"  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  success  which  has 
attended  all  my  operations  during  this  second  invasion, 
which  shall  last  so  long  as  there  is  anything  to  destroy 


36o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

from  which  Spain  may  derive  any  revenue.  As  you 
will  see,  the  discredit  which  the  proclamations  of  Wey- 
ler  were  intended  to  throw  on  our  revolution  has, 
through  what  we  have  accomplished,  fallen  on  Spain, 
whose  incapacity  to  control  our  movements  has  been 
again  plainly  shown. 

A  correspondent  with  the  rebels  writes  : 

I  asked  Dr.  Dominguez  why  the  insurgent  columns  burned  the  towns 
when  the  inhabitants  were  really  in  sympathy  with  the  Cuban  cause. 

"  The  burning  of  the  towns,"  he  answered,  *'  is  often  a  necessity.  The 
Spanish  troops  are  unwilling  to  sleep  in  the  open  air.  We  therefore 
burn  a  town  to  harass  them,  but  the  principal  purpose  is  to  prevent  its 
becoming  a  headquarters  from  which  they  may  skirmish  the  surrounding 
country." 

The  Spaniards  have  begun  a  general  slaughter  of  horses  wherever  they 
find  them,  no  matter  to  whom  they  belong.  This  is  to  prevent  them 
from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents,  and  is  probably  in  accordance 
with  orders  from  the  military  governor  at  Matanzas  or  from  General 
Weyler.  Outside  of  the  cities  the  soldiers  kill  every  living  thing.  In 
addition  to  the  common  outrages  on  non-combatants,  they  kill  horses, 
donkeys,  cattle  and  mules  for  amusement  or  for  practice.  In  many 
parts  of  the  country  people  have  abandoned  their  plantations  and  have 
taken  their  families  into  the  cities  to  save  their  lives. 

The  mayor  of  Wajay,  near  Marianao,  April  i8,  accompanied  by  a 
policeman,  was  held  up  on  the  Arango  estate  by  a  rebel  band,  under 
Juan  Delgado.  The  horses  they  rode  and  four  others,  taken  from  citi- 
zens for  the  government  service,  were  seized.  All  receipts  from  taxes 
and  town  money  already  collected  were  taken  from  the  mayor,  who  was 
then  released.     The  Arango  estate  was  burned. 

A  party  of  insurgents  caught  the  mail  carrier  between  Bainoa  and 
Caraballo,  took  his  letters  from  him,  and  then  made  him  assist  in  the 
work  of  demolishing  fortifications  erected  on  the  Loteria  estate.  The 
Carahatas  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald  writes  : 

"  The  town  is  left  in  absolute  darkness,  except  for  the  fires  started  by 
the  rebels  on  neighboring  estates.  There  is  no  kerosene  in  the  town. 
Poverty  is  general,  and  there  is  no  money  even  to  send  a  schooner  to 
Havana   for  food   and    merchandise.     The  rebels  burned   yesterday  a 


HER  STRUGGLES   FOR  LIBERTY,  363 

bridge  on  the  road  from  Carahatas  to  Ramona  station,  and  four  houses 
on  the  Sabanilla  estate.     The  torch  is  applied  everywhere." 

A  despatch  from  Havana,  dated  in  March,  gives  these 
particulars  of  the  way  the  work  of  destruction  was  go- 
ing on  then  : 

The  insurgent  leaders,  Vincente  Nunez  and  Eduardo  Garcia,  with  a 
force  estimated  to  number  about  1,500  men,  are  encamped  at  the  plan- 
tation of  Magdalena,  district  of  Santa  Ana,  Province  of  Matanzas. 
They  have  burned  fourteen  houses  belonging  to  the  colony  of  Estrella, 
near  Palmillas,  province  of  Matanzas,  and  have  destroyed  a  number  of 
cane  fields  in  Central  Felicia  and  Alfonso  Doce. 

The  insurgent  leader.  Angel  Castillo,  has  burned  near  Puerto  Principe 
a  fine  farm  and  a  number  of  houses  at  Quinta  Maria,  San  Miguel  la 
Carbonera,  La  Josefina,  Santa  Rosa,  and  other  places  which  had  good 
houses. 

The  insurgents  have  burned  thirty  houses  in  the  village  of  Jamanitas 
and  the  farm  of  La  Herminia  near  Marianao.  They  have  also  burned 
635  tons  of  sugar  cane  near  Palmillas  in  Matanzas. 

Quite  recently  we  learn  that  the  rebels  have  burned  all 
the  tobacco  plantations  belonging  to  Pedro  Murias, 
near  Dimas,  in  the  Pinar  del  Rio  province,  together 
with  other  property.  Over  300  houses  and  40,000  bales 
of  tobacco  were  destroyed.  The  loss  is  estimated  at 
over  $1,000,000,  that  of  Murias  alone  being  $700,000. 
The  misery  resulting  from  the  firing  of  the  plantations 
is  terrible  ;  3,000  persons  are  rendered  homeless.  They 
are  being  protected  by  the  government  as  best  they  can 
be,  and  fed  with  military  rations. 

Among  the  documents  found  on  the  body  of  Jose 
Alfonso,  the  rebel  leader,  who  was  killed  near  Cardenas, 
was  a  circular  ordering  him  to  respect  the  property  of 
Americans.  These  are  the  leading  items  in  a  recent 
news  summary  : 

C— 21 


364  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"The  rebel  leader,  Juan  Suarez  Gonzales,  who  was 
killed  in  an  engagement  at  Jesus  Maria,  had  on  his  body 
a  communication  from  Lacret,  ordering  him  to  hang 
the  owners  of  sugar  estates  who  were  proceeding  with 
grinding  operations,  and  all  marauders,  as  soon  as  their 
identity  is  established. 

"  Fear  is  expressed  in  Matanzas  that  an  epidemic  will 
result  if  the  slaughter  of  horses  is  continued  around  the 
city.  The  newspapers  in  Cienfuegos  clamor  for  pre- 
cautions to  avoid  the  spread  of  the  smallpox.  The  city 
is  now  filthy. 

"  At  Jaguey  la  Grande,  in  the  Remedios  district  of 
the  province  of  Santa  Clara,  the  insurgents  have  burned 
the  machinery  houses  of  the  Rosario  plantation  and  the 
railroad  station  at  Guanabano.  The  machinery  houses 
of  the  plantation  of  San  Narcisco,  near  Guira  Melina,  this 
province  have  been  burned,  and  the  cane  plantations  of 
Loteria,  Carmen,  and  their  colonies  destroyed,  with 
22,000  tons  of  cane." 

A  late  letter  from  Havana  states  the  deplorable  condi- 
tion of  the  people  of  the  country  districts  in  these  terms  : 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  working  class  is  absolutely  destitute  of 
ready  money.  The  men,  knowing  there  was  no  work  for  them  in  the 
towns,  hesitated  about  going  with  their  families,  while  they  feared  to  re- 
main in  their  poor  homes,  where,  at  least,  they  could  be  sure  of  food. 
The  time  for  obeying  the  decree  ended  yesterday. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  houses  on  the  main  roads 
will  be  deserted.  There  are  many  instances  of  men  who  have  sent 
their  wives,  etc.,  to  the  towns  to  look  out  for  themselves  as  best  they 
can,  while  they  remain  in  defiance  of  the  government  and  run  the  chance 
of  escaping  the  Spanish  soldiers.  Very  many  other  peasants  have  joined 
the  insurgents,  with  their  wives  and  children,  and  stories  of  the  exploits 
of  the  half  frenzied  women  in  the  ranks  are  already  beginning  to  circu- 
late on  the  Island. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  365 

A  reliable  person  from  the  Sancti  Spiritus  district  informs  me  that 
fully  eight  thousand  recruits  have  been  obtained  for  the  insurgents  in 
this  province.  In  order  to  obtain  food  for  the  cities,  the  Spaniards  have 
decreed  that  the  cultivators  from  the  country  must  lay  out  market  gardens 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  towns  and  within  three  miles  of  city  lines. 

Serafin  Sanchez,  the  insurgent  commander  in  Santa  Clara  province, 
has  issued  a  counter  proclamation  instructing  the  men  not  to  raise 
vegetables  about  the  cities,  promising  them  protection. 

It  will  be  observed  here  that  the  Spaniards  and  Cu- 
bans aUke  are  frightened  by  the  imminent  danger  of 
famine,  and  it  is  certain  to  come  along  with  pestilence, 
if  war  is  the  sole  occupation  of  the  people. 

It  is  a  horrible  condition  of  things  just  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  rainy  and  sickly  season.  Such  is  the  ter- 
ror the  torch  has  spread,  and  the  desertion  of  all  pro- 
ductive occupations,  that  there  is  no  hope  in  the  future, 
so  far  as  human  eyes  can  penetrate  the  gloom.  Both 
sides  are  burning  houses,  the  Spanish  are  killing  horses 
to  deprive  the  rebels  of  transportation,  and  the  rebels 
are  killing  the  domestic  animals  to  get  meat,  and  are 
ravaging  the  fields  for  potatoes  and  stripping  the  trees 
of  fruit.  There  is  no  safety  for  any  one  on  the  road, 
and  no  assurance,  if  any  care  to  attempt  raising  corn  or 
garden  produce,  that  he  or  she  who  sows  or  hoes  shall 
reap.  The  rebels  burn  the  cane  and  tobacco,  and  there 
will  be  no  crops  this  year  at  all,  and  the  meaning  of  this 
is  no  money  to  buy  anything  with.  The  fields  are  to 
yield  weeds,  the  domestic  animals  of  all  kinds  are  in 
course  of  massacre.  The  Spaniards  have  ordered  the 
people  to  the  towns,  and  soon  will  have  multitudes  they 
cannot  feed  ;  indeed,  there  are  now  many  haggard  with 
want.  The  destruction  of  houses  by  Spaniards  is  to 
force  the  rebels,  by  annihilating  shelter,  to  sleep  on  the 
ground,  which  cannot  be  endured  in  the  rainy  season. 


366  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  Spanish  and  Cuban  armies  are  simply  engaged 
in  thorough  work  destroying  all  the  improvement 
of  many  generations  on  the  Island  and  all  resources 
for  the  production  of  food.  Already  there  is  most 
dreadful  destitution,  and  the  result  threatens  to  be 
the  extermination  of  the  people  following  their  total 
impoverishment. 

An  April  23rd  letter  gives  a  summary  of  the  pros- 
tration of  Cuba,  the  collapse  of  her  finances  and  indus- 
tries, showing  the  progress  of  the  policy  of  desolation. 
We  quote  from  the  New  York  Sun  this  most  shocking 
compilation  of  the  evidences  of  material  disaster: 

The  receipts  at  the  custom  house,  which  have  usually  amounted  to 
from  $40,000  to  $50,000  daily  at  this  time  of  the  year,  have  fallen  to  an 
average  of  $20,000.  Some  days  even  $i6,ooo  is  not  reached.  The  fact 
is  due  to  the  general  poverty  of  the  country  produced  by  the  war  and  the 
reduction  of  imports. 

The  sugar  product  is  only  8  per  cent,  of  its  average  amount  in 
times  of  peace.  About  1,000,000  tons  of  sugar  have  been  produced  in  the 
Island  annually,  but  only  80,000  tons  were  produced  this  year.  These 
80,000  tones  have  come  from  sugar  estates  which  were  permitted  to  grind 
by  the  insurgents,  contrary  to  their  rule  and  in  accordance  with  private 
arrangements  with  the  insurgent  government.  The  sugar  planters  are 
loosing  all  hopes  of  a  good  crop  next  season.  It  is  said  that  Gen.  Gomez 
will  issue  a  proclamation  prohibiting  grinding  next  year.  Some  say  that 
the  proclamation  will  come  from  the  Cuban  delegation  in  the  United 
States,  as  Senor  Estrada  Palma,  the  Cuban  delegate  there,  has  received 
orders  from  President  Salvador  Cisneros  to  issue  it. 

It  is  reported  also  that  Senor  Emerterio  Zorrilla,  a  rich  Spanish  sugar 
planter  now  in  New  York,  has  written  to  his  friends  in  Havana  that  there 
is  no  possibility  of  a  mometary  arrangement  with  the  Cuban  delegate  at 
New  York  to  secure  permission  to  grind.  *'  The  island,"  says  Senor  Zor- 
rilla, "  is  condemned  to  destruction.  I  think  that  sensible  Spaniards  ought 
to  look  for  some  terms  of  peace  that  will  satisfy  the  Cubans  and  prevent 
the  total  ruin  of  the  Greater  Antilles." 

In  the  last  balance  sheet  of  the  Bank  of  Commerce  only  $231,000  ap- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  367 

pear  as  deposits.  In  times  of  peace  the  bank  never  had  in  deposit  less 
than  $1,000,000.  The  situation  of  the  Spanish  Bank  of  the  Island  of 
Cuba  is  also  desperate.  The  governor  of  the  bank,  who  is  appointed  by 
the  government,  desires  to  increase  the  capital  from  $8,000,000  to 
$10,000,000.  The  share-holders  oppose  this  measure.  They  say  that 
even  the  capital  of  $8,000,000  is  only  in  name,  as  the  stock  is  quoted  at 
only  50  per  cent,  of  its  face  value. 

Private  bankers,  such  as  I.  M.  Borjes  &  Co.,  Uppman,  Hidalgo  &  Co., 
and  Gelats,  have  sent  to  New  York  and  Europe  nearly  all  the  money 
they  deposited.  They  are  fearful  of  the  situation  and  of  their  responsi- 
bility in  case  the  governor-general,  as  a  war  measure,  orders  a  heavy 
contribution  from  the  banks.  During  the  ten  years'  war  the  Spanish  Bank 
was  ordered  to  advance  to  the  government  a  large  sum. 

Former  rich  commercial  firms  have  now  only  a  few  names  on  their  sal- 
ary lists.  Nearly  all  the  clerks  may  sleep  and  take  their  meals  in  the  house, 
but  receive  no  money. 

The  increase  of  the  inhumanities  is  plain,  and  the  de- 
cline into  barbarism  indicated  by  events  that  under 
other  conditions  would  not  be  credible,  and  we  compile 
specimens: 

On  the  sugar  estate  Santiago,  in  the  province  of  Pinar 
del  Rio,  Lieut.  Lazcano,  who  was  commanding  the  van- 
guard of  Gen.  Arolas,  met  an  old  Cuban  laborer  who 
was  watering  his  cattle.  He  asked  him  what  he  was 
doing.  "  You  see,"  answered  the  man.  Instantly  he 
was  shot  dead  by  Lazcano.  Then  Lazcano  went  to  Ar- 
olas and  told  him:  "  I  have  killed  an  insurgent."  "  All 
right,"  was  the  reply.     "  Do  it  again." 

In  Cervantes  the  same  Spanish  column  assassinated 
one  night  twenty-two  peaceful  laborers.  On  the  sugar 
estate  Vizcaya,  another  man  was  shot  by  the  guerilla 
of  Lieut.  Campillo.  In  the  province  of  Matanzas  no 
countryman  escapes  if  he  is  a  Cuban.  In  San  Jose  de 
Los  Ramos  the  crimes  committed  by  the  Spanish  troops 
are  numerous.     On  the    farm  San  Cristobal,   Bernabe 


368  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Ramos,  a  laborer,  father  of  four  children,  was  killed 
simply  because  he  was  a  Cuban.  His  friend,  Felix 
Ramos,  having  also  a  large  family,  and  Jose  Fabio,  an 
employee,  were  shot  also.  On  the  neighboring  estate 
Santa  Rita  Jorgo  Vento,  another  pacifico,  was  hanged. 
On  the  sugar  plantation  Progresso  Pedro  Ortiz,  Ceferino 
Fernandez,  Pedro  Hoyos,  and  the  latter's  three  sons,  20, 
17,  and  15  years  of  age,  were  shot.  And  these  ghastly 
murders  are  called  "making  war." 

One  of  the  complaints  of  American  citizens  of  prop- 
erty destroyed — and  it  is  true  there  are  many  millions 
of  American  investments  in  the  Island — is  filed  by 
the  brothers  Farrar,  owners  of  the  coffee  plantation 
Estrella  in  the  Havana  province,  and  is  supported  by  this 
statement: 

On  Saturday,  March  21,  the  dwelling  house  of  the  coffee  plantation 
Estrella  was  the  object  of  wanton  attack  by  the  column  of  Gen.  Bernat, 
operating  in  that  region.  The  said  building  received  cannon  shots  of 
grape  and  canister,  breaking  the  door,  one  window,  several  piazza  col- 
umns, and  greatly  endangering  the  lives  of  the  families  of  my  brothers 
Don  Tasio  and  Don  Luis  Farrar,  both  American  citizens,  the  wife  of  the 
former  being  enciente.  There  were  two  small  children  in  the  house. 
From  my  information,  it  appears,  that  the  troops  mentioned  had  sustained 
fire  with  a  rebel  band  in  Paz  plantation,  a  quarter-league  from  Estrella. 

The  rebels  having  fled  to  Pedroso  and  Buena  Esperanza  plantations, 
the  government  troops  advanced  toward  Estrella,  in  quite  an  opposite 
direction  from  that  taken  by  the  rebels.  On  arriving  at  the  borders  of 
Estrella  plantation,  the  Spanish  columns  began  firing  cannon  at  the 
dwelling  house,  and  it  was  immediately  invaded  by  soldiers,  who  ran- 
sacked it,  carrying  off  from  wardrobes  all  jewelry  and  men's  clothing 
which  they  contained,  as  well  as  a  sum  of  about  $60  in  money.  They 
also  took  away  everything  found  in  workmen's  dwellings,  arresting  at  the 
same  time  twelve  of  the  occupants  whom  they  conducted  to  Alquizar  as 
insurgents.  It  should  be  observed  that  the  cannon  were  fired  solely  at 
the  dwelling  house  of  the  owners,  although  there  were  twenty  other  build- 
ings on  the  plantation,  and  the  place  was  entirely  clear  of  insurgents. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  369 

In  consideration  of  all  the  above,  and  particularly  on  account  of  the 
danger  to  which  his  relatives  were  exposed,  and  also  for  the  unjustifiable 
looting  on  the  part  of  the  regular  troops  in  the  service  of  a  constituted 
government,  the  undersigned- does  most  solemnly  protest,  and  asks  an 
immediate  indemnity  for  the  damages  suffered,  which  he  values  at 
$5,000,  as  all  work  has  been  stopped  on  the  plantation  and  everything 
abandoned 


In  the  midst  of  this  merciless  war,  there  is  on  the  part 
of  the  combatants  no  thought  of  peace.  "The  surest 
way  of  bringing  hostihties  to  a  close,"  says  General 
Maceo,  "  is  to  place  in  Cuba  20,000  rifles  and  4,000,000 
cartridges.  It  would  be  a  great  service  to  Cuba,"  he  says, 
"  if  the  United  States  would  not  interfere  with  the  ship- 
ment of  arms  and  ammunition  "  as  he  understands  such 
shipments  would  be  legal. 

It  is  said  that  the  Bermuda  on  her  second  excursion 
"carried  1,000  rifles,  500,000  cartridges,  two  Gatling 
guns,  many  machetes,  and  1,000  pounds  of  dynamite, 
besides  uniforms,  rubber  coats  and  medicines. 

"The  arms,  ammunition  and  supplies  were  landed  in 
six  big  surf  boats  that  were  taken  aboard  the  steam- 
ship at  Jacksonville." 

It  is  not  yet  bread,  but  only  cartridges,  that  the  Cu- 
bans cry  for,  and  the  Spanish  policy  of  vengeance 
shows  no  sign  of  abatement.  We  say  policy  of  ven- 
geance, because  the  cost  of  this  war  added  to  the  last 
would  absorb  all  the  money  that  could  ever  be  exacted 
from  the  productive  industries  of  the  Island,  if  we  may 
imagine,  which  we  do  not,  their  revival  under  the  flag 
of  Spain.  The  only  use  Spain  can  have  for  Cuba  here- 
after, and  this  is  the  outcome  of  all  complications,  is  as  a 
place  for  the  favorites  of  the  Spanish  government  to 
pillage.     Even  that  comes  to  an  end  in  the  poverty  of 


370  THE   SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  people.  In  Havana,  that  was  a  man  of  affairs  in 
Cuba  who  said  :  "  I  am  ruined  if  the  Spaniards  succeed 
in  their  strife  for  contest.  I  am  ruined  if  the  revolu- 
tionists succeed  and  the  independence  of  Cuba  does 
not  mean  annexation  to  the  United  States,  for  in  either 
case  we  shall  be  under  the  rule  of  the  sword  until  we 
are  in  the  Union.  My  hope  then,"  said  this  citizen  of 
Cuba,  "  is  in  the  union  of  my  country  as  a  state  with  the 
states  of  the  American  Union.  It  is  a  far-off,  faint 
hope,  but  all  I  have.  Without  it  my  estate  is  annihi- 
lated, and  my  wife  and  children  will  come  to  want,  for 
I  shall  be  broken  and  done.  I  am  not  a  political  theo- 
rist. All  I  ask  is  a  government  that  keeps  order  with- 
out tyranny  and  suppresses  corruption  so  that  a  man 
who  is  honest  has  fair  play.  Men  of  my  class  were 
nearly  used  up  when  the  war  began,  and  we  are  pun- 
ished as  the  case  stands."  This  was  the  despairing  ut- 
terance of  a  man  who  had  been  a  millionaire,  and  now 
mourned  his  broad  fields  desolate,  his  palace  beyond 
his  avenue  of  royal  palms  in  ruins,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren sheltered  by  marble  and  surrounded  by  splendid 
appointments,  but  stinted  for  the  necessaries  of  life. 
There  is  constant  controversy  as  to  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  Cuba,  and  it  is  just  as  well  the  friends  of  the 
freedom  of  the  Island  should  say  frankly  that  it  is  but 
a  shadow. 

Mr.  Hitt,  in  the  Flouse  of  Representatives,  speaking 
for  the  recognition  within  conservative  limitations  of 
the  rights  of  belligerency,  said :  "The  Spanish  troops 
are  practically  penned  up  in  the  cities.  They  have 
only  detachments  outside  of  towns.  The  country  is 
Cuban  and  the  Cuban  army  holds  it.  The  Cuban  cap- 
ital, Cubitas,  is  more  secure  than  Havana  is  to-day.     It 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  3/1 

is  not  a  war  of  similar  dimensions  to  the  ten  years'  war 
of  1868  and  1878.  That  never  extended  far  beyond 
the  eastern  province  of  Santiago,  and  even  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  power  of  Spain  to  subdue.  They 
held  that  monarchy  at  bay  for  ten  years,  although  they 
had  not  an  armed  force  one-fourth  as  great  as  that 
now  under  the  commands  of  Generals  Gomez  and 
Maceo." 

We  cannot  give  full  consent  to  this  for  Havana  is 
not  and  has  not  been  for  a  moment  in  the  slightest 
danger  from  the  insurgents,  and  Cubitas  is  only  safe  in 
that  sense  that  it  is  unsearchable.  It  is  true,  though, 
that  the  country  is  Cuban  and  the  Cuban  army  holds 
it,  except  that  part  >\'hich  is  under  the  feet  of  armed 
Spaniards.  It  is  true,  too,  that  this  war  is  a  greater 
struggle  than  the  one  that  lasted  so  long.  If  this  goes 
on,  it  must  end  in  total  ruin  to  everybody  involved. 
Spaniards  and  Cubans  are  falling  together  into  an 
abyss.  The  answer  that  should  be  made  to  the  asser- 
tion that  the  Cubans  have  no  civil  government,  is  that 
they  have  as  much  authority  of  a  civic  character  as  the 
Spaniards,  for  there  is  nothing  but  martial  law  in 
the  Island.  The  fight  of  Spain  is  to  continue  martial 
law,  and  the  Cubans  are  in  arm.s  to  overthrow  the 
Spanish  law,  which  is  administered  by  soldiers  by  force 
of  arms.  Some  of  the  Cuban  people  thought  to  govern 
themselves,  and  they  will  seek  first  to  be  emancipated 
from  military  despotism,  and  the  way  to  do  it  is  to 
organize  as  a  state  and  apply  for  admission  to  the 
United  States.  The  importance  of  belligerency  recog- 
nition is  exaggerated.  It  is  a  question  of  cartridges 
and  rifles,  and  it  is  not  the  part  of  revolutionists  to  re- 
gard proclamations  and  decrees  as  essential, 


372  THE  STORY   OF  CUBA. 

The  Cubans  have  been  exerting  themselves  to  the 
utmost  to  provide  by  their  loan,  recently  negotiated, 
means  to  capture  a  port  and  hold  it.  To  this  end  they 
have  been  arming  vessels,  buying  artillery,  and  firing 
upon  Spanish  gun-boats  with  some  effect.  If  they 
could  hold  a  port,  especially  in  the  west  end,  it  would 
be  a  powerful  argument  for  recognition  by  all 
nations. 

Some  of  the  cartridges  Maceo  needs  so  bitterly 
appear  to  have  been  captured,  but  there*  is  news  from 
Jacksonville  of  the  Bermuda. 

The  manifest  shows  that  an  immense  cargo  of  Gatling 
and  Hotchkiss  guns,  rifles,  machetes,  revolvers,  pow- 
der, cartridges,  torpedoes,  etc.,  is  carried.  John  Ken- 
nedy, an  employee  of  J.  A.Huau,  a  Cuban,  professed  to 
be  the  shipper,  and  the  munitions  are  consigned  to  the 
Central  American  Fruit  Company,  Puerto  Cortez, 
Honduras. 

When  the  Bermuda  came  into  Jacksonville  she  had 
about  200  men  on  board.  The  others  were  picked  up 
here  and  at  the  bar.  One  hundred  came  from  Fernan- 
dina.  This  contingent  was  taken  by  rail  to  a  point  on 
the  St.  Johns  River  below  Jacksonville.  There  they 
boarded  the  tug  Kate  Spencer,  which  took  them  outside 
and  transferred  them  to  the  Bermuda,  Fully  one-half 
the  men  are  natives  of  the  United  States.  The  pilot 
who  took  her  out  says  she  looked  like  a  war  ship.  Can- 
non had  been  mounted  fore  and  aft,  and  machine  guns 
had  been  placed  amidships. 

The  Bermuda  was  evidently  not  prepared  to  put  in  a 
plea  that  she  was  a  ship  on  a  peaceable  errand. 

One  old  American  soldier  has  had  enousfh  of  the 
Cuban  war,  and  has  been  heard   from  at  Poughkeepsie 


JUANDING  THE  CARGO  OF  AMMUNITION,  Etc..  BY  THE  STEAMER 
BERMUDA  IN  CUBA. 


r^^         OF  THE  ,^^j,i 

■gNIA^ERSlTTj 


CALiFOni^^^ 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  375 

on  his  way  to  Buffalo.  His  name  is  William  Ewing, 
and  he  is  fifty-five  years  of  age,  a  native  of  Buffalo,  and 
his  story  reminds  one  of  the  romances  of  the  crusaders. 

He  served  in  the  Seventeenth  United  States  infantry  all  through  the 
civil  war,  and  is  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  R.  Since  the  war  he  has 
lived  in  Buffalo  until  three  years  ago,  when,  with  his  wife  and  daughter, 
he  went  to  Cuba,  and  invested  $7,000,  all  the  money  he  had,  in  a  sugar 
plantation.  His  brother-in-law,  William  Hamilton,  helped  him  work  the 
plantation. 

Owing  to  the  troubles  on  the  Island,  Ewing  sent  his  wife  and  daugh- 
ter to  New  York  last  October,  and  from  there  they  went  to  Buffalo.  He 
has  not  heard  from  them  since.  Ewing  and  his  brother-in-law  joined 
the  insurgent  army,  and  Ewing  has  been  in  twenty-one  engagements, 
under  Generals  Gomez,  Maceo,  and  Garcia. 

"  In  one  of  those  engagements  my  brother-in-law  was  killed,"  said 
Ewing.  "  Being  almost  crazed  by  my  reverses,  and  not  having  heard 
from  my  family,  I  determined  to  come  to  the  United  States  and  look 
them  up.  On  the  night  of  March  28th  I  made  my  escape  from  the 
Island,  and  was  rowed  out  in  a  small  boat  three  miles,  when  I  boarded 
a  blockade  runner,  landed  at  Atlantic  City,  and  walked  to  New  York. 

"  After  arriving  in  New  York  I  was  afraid  to  make  myself  known,  and, 
therefore,  received  no  assistance  from  the  Cuban  Junta.  From  New 
York  I  walked  to  Yonkers,  where  Grand  Army  comrades  gave  me  food 
and  paid  my  fare  to  Poughkeepsie." 

Mr.  Ewing,  under  all  these  circumstances,  seems  to 
have  done  well  to  have  escaped  from  his  plantation,  for 
neither  peace  nor  war  had  thrived  with  him  in  the 
tropics. 

He  is  a  type  of  an  American-Cuban  soldier.  One 
hesitates  to  use  the  word  Cuban  as  distinct  from 
American,  for  Cuba  is  the  great  American  island,  and 
should  be  included  when  we  speak,  as  Daniel  Webster 
did,  of  the  nation  as  distinct  from  the  states,  and  the 
sum  of  all  :  "  One  constitution,  one  country,  one  des- 
tiny."    Here  is  a  man  who  fought  through  our  war  in  the 


CF  TMF 


37^  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

regular  army,  and  when  peace  came  resumed  the  labors 
of  peace,  and  earned  a  Httle  but  adequate  fortune,  and 
concluded  to  go  beyond  the  lines  of  the  land  of  his  birth 
and  blood,  tempted  by  the  soil  and  sky  of  Cuba,  and 
there  invested  the  provision  that,  with  industry  and 
thrift,  he  had  made  for  his  old  age.  The  war  cry  was 
heard,  and  he  fought  for  liberty  again,  but  his  friends 
fell  by  his  side,  and  he  thought  there  was  no  hope  left  in 
that  bloody  land,  and  became  a  fugitive  to  find  his  own 
country,  and  the  charity  of  his  old  comrades  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic,  helped  him  on  the  way  home. 

The  fixed  resolution  of  Spain  to  ruin  herself  to  the 
bitter  end  to  hold  Cuba  for  her  favorites,  and  her  forced 
market  is  not  in  the  least  relaxed,  but  grows  still 
sharper  and  more  severe  and  deadly  as  the  misfortunes 
her  policy  has  fastened  upon  herself  are  harder  to  bear. 
The  vital  forces  that,  wisely  administered,  would  have 
made  her  a  great  nation  once  more  are  dissipated  in  the 
futile  struggle  to  enslave  forever  her  own  children. 

In  the  strife  that  has  marked  the  course  of  the  failure 
of  fallen  nations,  there  has  been  nothing  more  dramatic 
or  deplorable  ;  and,  as  in  these  evil  times  the  beautiful 
Island  is  blasted,  it  would  seem  that  the  Cubans  of 
to-day,  like  the  natives  of  400  years  ago,  must  live  in 
huts,  sheltered  by  the  trees,  on  the  fruits  of  the  forest  and 
the  natural  growth  of  food  in  the  generous  ground,  whose 
prodigies  of  production  offer  the  last  possibility  of  live- 
lihood, until  they  pass  away  under  the  savage  cruelties 
of  misrule,  like  those  pathetic  people  here  enslaved  and 
destroyed  by  the  discoverers  of  the  Indies. 

AN    ILLUSTRATIVE    MASSACRE. 

Pecjro  Casanova,  who  has  recently  related  his  unhappy 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  'S77 

experience  with  Spanish  troops,  is  vouched  for  as  an 
American  citizen  and  a  man  well  known  and  educated 
and  respected.  The  Herald  representative  in  Havana  has 
interviewed  him — and  it  is  absolutely  reliable — of  this  I 
can  vouch  from  direct  personal  information,  and  this 
gruesome  story  is  an  example  of  the  blood  thirsty  mad- 
ness that  spreads  and  blights  like  some  contagious  disease. 
Casanova  owned  at  San  Miguel  de  Jaruca,  in  addition  to 
his  residence,  buildings  and  machinery,  all  belonging 
to  the  estate,  a  large,  unfinished  structure  on  a  hill, 
built  by  Casanova's  father  and  intended  for  a  public 
school  or  church.  Opposite  the  railway  station  was  a 
drug  store,  which  is  now  closed.  Casanova  lived  at  a 
distance  of  four  city  blocks  from  the  station,  and  the 
rebels  had  passed  many  times  without  molesting  him. 
This  seemed  to  constitute  the  grievances  of  the  Spanish 
troops. 

The  regiment  stationed  near-by  had  won  the  title  of 
undertakers,  on  account  of  their  methods,  as  wherever 
they  passed  they  left  death.  This  regiment  is  in  com- 
mand of  Major  Fondeviela,  whose  officers  say  he  in- 
structed them  that  whenever  shots  were  fired  from  a 
house  their  soldiers  should  kill  all  the  occupants,  includ- 
ing men,  women  and  children.  They  obeyed  the  order 
to  the  letter. 

Casanova's  family  consists  of  his  wife,  three  children, 
— the  oldest  a  girl  of  five,  the  youngest  a  babe  in  arms — 
and  a  nephew,  Julio  Vidal,  a  young  man  and  a  native- 
born  American.     Casanova's  story  is  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  suffered  great  outrages  at  the  hands  of  the 
Spanish  soldiers.  The  soldiers  recently  passed  on  the 
road,  and  my  wife  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that 
they  had   broken  into  a  vacant  house  where  valuable 


3/8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

property  was  stored,  and  were  pulling  things  in  pieces. 
Just  then  I  saw  two  officers  coming  toward  the  house. 
I  was  very  glad,  and  went  out  to  meet  them,  and  invited 
them  to  enter  the  house  and  refresh  themselves.  They 
accepted,  and  said  they  liked  coffee.  While  they  were 
drinking,  one  or  two  soldiers  came  and  spoke  to  the 
captain,  who  asked  me,  '  Who  are  the  men  in  the  sugar 
house  ? '  ■  , 

"  '  My  employees,'  I  replied,  'including  one  engineer. 
The  others  are  engaged  in  repairs.'     The  captain  said  : 

"  '  I  hear  rebels  are  hidden  there.  I  must  take  the 
men  before  the  major  for  examination  ;  the  major  him- 
self will  be  here  to-morrow.' 

"  After  he  left,  I  found  the  door  of  the  house  on  the 
hill  broken  open.  A  quantity  of  bottled  beer  had  been 
taken,  also  my  saddles  and  bridles,  and  many  other 
things.  Gloves  and  other  articles  of  woman's  apparel 
were  tossed  in  the  yard,  I  went  to  the  station.  The  drug 
store  looked  as  if  it  had  been  visited  by  a  mad  bull.  All 
the  shelves  and  drawers  were  thrown  out  and  smashed. 
An  empty  store  opposite  was  in  the  same  condition.  The 
counter  was  thrown  down  and  the  door  posts  hacked  by 
machetes.  The  large  coffee  mill  was  broken,  and  all  was 
in  disorder.  An  account  of  this  work  was  what  the  sol- 
diers had  whispered  to  the  captain.  The  officer  had 
remarked  to  me  with  a  sneer  :  '  The  insurgents  are  very 
kind  to  you,  as  no  harm  has  been  done  here.' 

"  I  was  surprised  on  the  following  Wednesday  morn- 
ing to  hear  shots  as  of  several  volleys  of  musketry. 
About  three  hundred  soldiers — infantry  and  cavalry — 
were,  in  fact,  outside,  having  surrounded  my  house.  More 
soon  appeared  under  command  of  Captain  Cerezo  Mar- 
tinez.    In  most  brutal  and  vulvar  terms  he  ordered  all 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  379 

in  the  house  to  go  outside.  The  soldiers  rushed  in  and 
dragged  me  out  by  the  coat  collar.  My  wife,  with  her 
baby,  was  taken  out,  a  rifle  being  pointed  at  her  breast. 
Eleutrie  Zanabria,  a  negro  servant,  who  was  badly 
frightened,  tried  to  hide.  He  was  pulled  to  the  front, 
and  before  my  eyes  a  soldier  struck  him  a  heavy  blow 
with  his  machete,  cutting  him  deep  in  the  head  and  arm, 
leaving  a  pool  of  blood  on  the  floor.  The  wound  was 
serious. 

"  An  order  was  then  given  to  take  into  custody 
all  the  men  on  the  estate.  Near  a  tree  beyond  the  hill, 
one  hundred  yards  from  the  house,  I  stopped,  about 
forty  paces  from  the  others,  to  talk  to  the  captain,  who 
had  been  at  the  house  the  week  before.  At  that  moment 
a  young  negro,  Manuel  Febels,  made  a  dash  to  escape. 
Some  cavalrymen  rushed  after  him,  firing.  He  fell,  and 
they  mutilated  his  body,  taking  out  his  eyes.  The  offi- 
cer, enraged  at  the  negro's  flight,  pulled  out  his  sabre, 
and  shouted  to  the  others  of  the  party,  '  Get  down  on 
your  knees  ! '  They  obeyed,  and  he  had  them  bound 
and  kept  in  that  position  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

"While  I  was  talking  to  the  captain,  my  wife  and 
five-year-old  child  were  beggirrg  for  mercy  for  me.  The 
cavalrymen  helped  themselves  to  corn  for  their  horses, 
and  finally  started.  The  officers  told  me  that  my 
nephew's  life  and  my  own  were  only  spared  because 
we  were  Americans,  and  they  did  not  want  to  get  into 
trouble  with  the  United  States.  They  then  ordered  me 
to  leave  San  Miguel  without  waiting  a  moment. 

"Their  explanation  of  the  raid  was  that  the  rebels 
had  fired  upon  the  troops,  and  that  they  saw  one  man 
run,  as  he  fired,  into  my  house,  and  that  under  the  major's 
instructions  the  whole  family  should  have  been  killed 


38o 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


My  wife  and  children  were  in  agony  while  I  was  away. 
My  employees  were  all  taken  away  by  the  troops. 
Their  names  are  Tomas  Linares,  Ceriaco  Linares,  Eleu- 
terie  Zanabria,  Felex  Cardenas,  Juan  Duarte  and  Flor- 
encio  Rodriguez. 

"  An  officer  of  high  rank  in  the  Spanish  army  passed 
my  place  after  I  left,  came  to  me  here,  and  said  :  '  I 
know  what  happened.  The  man  in  command  is  unfit 
to  be  an  officer  of  Spain.'  I  heard  that  my  men  had 
been  taken  to  the  Spanish  camp,  and  shot  while  eating 
breakfast." 

In  his  report  to  Consul-General  Williams,  Casanova 
says  that  what  was  done  could  only  have  been  con- 
ceived in  madness  or  intoxication. 

In  view  of  the  crisis  in  Cuba  and  the  recent  devel- 
opments of  an  epidemic  of  murder  there,  in  which 
laboring  men  are  shot  down  on  the  roads  and  in  the 
fields  of  the  plantations  where  they  are  employed,  it 
seems  fit  this  chapter  should  close  with  some  leaves 
from  that  extraordinary  publication,  the  "  Book  of 
Blood,"  whose  statistical  horrors  are  so  excessive  as  to 
challenge  reason ;  but  this  unparalleled  record  is  in 
course  of  confirmation,  and  the  production  of  this  fea- 
ture has  pertinence. 

This  book  gives  a  list  of  martyrs,  4,672  in  number, 
under  the  head:  "The  Martyrs  of  Liberty  in  Cuba — 
Political  Prisoners  Executed  Since  the  Commencement 
of  the  War  with  Cuba."  The  date  of  publication  w^as 
1873 — half  way  through  the  ten  years'  war — and  it  is 
chiefly  compiled  from  Spanish  authorities.  We  select 
four  pages  as  examples,  showing  the  system  upon 
which  the  book  was  prepared.  The  figures  at  the  top 
of   page  323 — 1,749 — ^''^  th^  number   of  "rebels"  ac- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  38 1 

counted  for  in  the  former  pages.  At  the  bottom  of 
page  327  the  figures  2,094  show  the  aggregate  to  that 
point. 

1,749 

27  Siguanea,  Capt.  Ale  jo  Cantero,  Capt.  Felix 

Yurubide  and  thirteen  more. .    15     D          6  Dec. 

28  Pto.  Principe.       Cristobal  Mendoza i      "  8      " 

29  Hatico.  Com.  Manuel  Torres,  Pref.  Emi- 

lio   Tellez,   Subpref.    Macias, 

and  some  other  officers 8  "  11  " 

December. 

I  Giuara.                  One  who  smelt  as  a  rebel i  "  18  " 

4  Las  Tunas.           Three  rebels 3  "  31  " 

6  Momones.             Juan  Meneses i  "  10  " 

7  Las  Lomas.          N.Rodriguez i  "  10  " 

9  Los  Cristales.       Emilio  Moreno  and  another. .. .  2  *'  14  " 

II  Holguin.  Gen.  Jose  M.  Aurrecoechea  and 
his  chief-of-staff,  Facundo  Ca- 
ble        2      "        22      " 

17  Pto.  Principe.       Lope  Recio  Agramonte i      "  i    Jan. 

"    California.  One  armed  rebel i      "        15      " 

18  Remedios.  Two  rebels 2      "        23  Dec. 

17  Pto.  Principe.  Cap.  Francisco  Betancourt,  Emi- 
lio   Estrada,    Carlos    Torres, 

Jose  Molina,  Francisco  Bena- 
vides,  Manuel  Montojo  and 
Caballero,  Javier  B.  Varona, 
Martin  Loynaz  y  Miranda. . .      8     "  i    Jan. 

20  Holguin.  Manuel  Zuniga,  Evaristo  Torres, 

Francisco  Llaurador,  Miguel 
Peralta,  Antonio  Olivo,  An- 
tolin  Varela,  Santiago  Miran- 
da, Antonio  del  Toro 8      "        27  Dec. 

21  Cienfuegos.  Jose  Cayetano  Santos i      "        22      '* 

30  El  Mamon.  One  rebel i      "         3    Jan. 

15  to  30  Camaguey.  Eleven  shot  in  different  excur- 
sions     II      "        15       '' 

1,816 

C— 22 


382 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


31   Trinidad. 
**    Guanaja. 


—  Colon. 

—  Canoa. 


1,816 

A  negro  man i 

Nicolas  Fernandez i 

Seven    prisoners    captured   with 
the  wife  of  President  Cespe- 

des 7 

Antonio  de  Armas   i 

Segundo  Bejerano  and  Antonio 

Aviles 2 


D 


14 

15 


Jan. 


January. 

I  Santiago. 

'<  Vergel. 

"  Cieguito. 

"  Guisa. 

7  Santiago. 

9  Cienfuegos. 

"  Tunas. 

—  Camaguey. 

9  Holguin. 

15  Sti.  Espiritu. 

23  Manzanillo. 
"  Santiago. 

24  Santiago. 

"  Consolacion. 

25  Vuelta  Abajo. 


"    Sti.  Espiritu. 
26  Cauto. 
30  Esperanza. 


1871 

Jose  Catasus,  Tomas  Stable  and 

Mr.  Marcetti 3 

Two  negro  rebels 2 

Two  rebels 2 

Four  rebels   4 

Augusto    A.    Dominguez,     Dr. 

Juan  A.  Corrales    2 

Mariano  Guerra i 

Nineteen  rebels.    19 

Antonio    Hernandez    and     two 

others 3 

J.  L.  Ricardo  and  another.   ...  2 

Two  rebels 2 

R.  Guardia  y  Cespedes i 

Felipe    L.    Diaz,  Juan  Callejas 

and  Severo  Gonzales i 

L.  J.  Aguilera i 

Two  rebels 2 

Felipe   Rivero,    P.    Santana,    F. 

Hernandez,  N.  M.  Naranjo,  N. 

Napoles,  C    Planas,  A.  Mora, 

A.  Estevez,  and  Rodriguez..  8 

A  mulatto i 

Pedro  Marmol i 

Bernardino  Valdes 1 

1,884 


7 

June 

4 

Jan. 

10 

t( 

4 

(< 

14 

<( 

13 

u 

22 

u 

31 

(( 

10 

Feb. 

15 

Jan. 

I 

Feb. 

25    Jan. 


28  " 

29  " 
8   Feb. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


38; 


February. 

1  Cienfuegos. 

"  Trinidad. 

2  Cascorro. 

6  Margarita. 

7  Las  Lajas. 
"  San  Jorge. 

"  S.  Geronimo. 

8  Joiral. 
"  Tunas. 

12  Loreto. 

15  Ciego. 

16  Sti.  Espiritu. 
"  Jumento. 

17  Barajaguas. 
"  Trinidad 

'*    Moron 
"    Sagua. 
19  Sti.  Espiritu. 
"  Naranjo. 
23  Camaguey. 

''  Guaramena. 
26  Juan  Sanchez. 


"  Casanova. 
28  San  Jose. 
March. 
I  Trinidad. 

"  Balume. 
3  Villar. 
6  Caunao. 


I, 

A.  Rodriguez i 

M.  de  la  C.  Gomez,  L.  A.  Jaura- 

gui 2 

Enrique  Uranga i 

Eight  rebels 8 

A  negro  who  fled i 

A  rebel.    -  -    i 

Two  rebels      2 

Pedro  Romero   i 

F.  Prieto,  N.  Milanes  and  Miguel 

Marti,    . .  3 

A.  Lopez  Gutierrez i 

A  rebel i 

Placido  Peralta i 

Jose  Cerise   i 

A  rebel i 

Leon  Pena i 

A   rebel i 

Brigido    Ferrer i 

A    postman i 

A    postman i 

C.    Sosa,    E.    Miranda    Provost 

Sergeant  Callejas   . .    3 

Seventeen    rebels 17 

Majors  M.  Perdomo  and  S.  Mila, 

Capt.   A.    Paredes,    Lieut.    E. 

Rivero,    J.  B.   Agramonte,  J. 

Martinez,  P.  Ibarra,  B.   Leiva 

and  F.  Echemendia 10 

Nine    shot 9 

A  man   i 

Miguel  Gollo i 

Camilo  Carnesoltas i 

A  negro i 

M.  Cervantes,  Jose  de  Jesus  del 
Sol,  Rafael  del  Sol,  M.  Her- 
nandez and  F.  Rodriguez   ...  5 

1.952 


D 


2  Feb. 


7 

<( 

14 

<( 

I 

Mch 

I 

(< 

I 

(< 

10 

(( 

17 

t( 

23 

<( 

17 

<< 

I 

u 

24 

Feb 

I 

Mch. 

I 

(< 

I 

(i 

I 

« 

23 

Feb 

21 

« 

I 

Mch. 

12 

(< 

17 

« 

12 

19 
17 

14 
17 

30 


15 


384 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


8  Cienfuegos. 

"  Moron. 

9  Guayabal. 

"  Mijial. 
15   Entre  Cedros. 


"  Pico  Blanco. 

"  Trocha. 
"  Caunao. 
"  Punta. 
"  Guillos. 

16  Tunas. 

"  Casanova. 

17  Maya  Larga. 
"  Vega  Vieja. 

"  Barajaguas. 
28  Bartolome. 

"  Sti.  Espiritu. 

"  S.  Joaquin. 
21  La  Vega. 


"  Jicotea. 

"  Barrancas. 
25  Cabreras. 
27  Trinidad. 

29  Nazareno 
April. 
I  Guanaja. 


1-952 
Carlos  Cerise  and  Salome  Moya 

Hernandez 2 

Fernando   Estrada i 

F.  Fernandez,  F.  Martinez,  Jose 
Valdivia,  J,  Companon 4 

Fernando  Perez 4 

Manuel  P.  Quintanilla,  B.  Mar- 
ron,  P.  J.    Tamayo    and    two 

other  rebels 5 

G.  Caridad,  N.  Rodriguez,  Ag- 
uilar  Montalvan 3 

A  rebel i 

A  man  shot i 

Three  rebels 3 

A  rebel i 

Four  rebels 4 

Eight  rebels 8 

Luis   Lavielle i 

Three  rebels 3 

Five  rebels 5 

Leon  Lara ....  i 

Pedro  Martinez,  Joaquin  Guijarro  2 

Six    rebels 6 

Jose  Manuel  Queseda  (75  years 
old)  for  the   crime   of   being 

uncle  to  General  Quesada. ...  i 

One  rebel         i 

Five   rebels   5 

M.  Zaldivar  and  another 2 

J.  Marcano  and  Magdaleno  Po- 

lanco    2 

Juan  de  Dios  Cruz i 

Two  rebels ; 2 

Jose  R.  Ponte,  Geronimo  Rod- 
riguez, P.  Carmenati,  F.  Ca- 
breras and   a  negro ........  5 

2,026 


D 


10  Mch. 


II 
II 


16  Apr. 

17  Mch. 


30 


19 

^5 

Apr 

17 

Mch. 

18 

<< 

30 

(( 

30 

u 

30 

(< 

II  Apr. 


16 

u 

<< 

u 

2 

<( 

16 

(< 

HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


385 


2 

Cedro. 

4 

Santi  Spiritus. 

6 

Nicho. 

7 

Montano. 

(( 

Enceibas. 

<c 

Demajagua. 

8 

Guaney. 

II 

Sama. 

13 

Listas. 

22 

Santiago. 

i< 

Meliton. 

24 

Santiago. 

25 

Guadacacoa 

<( 

Cienega. 

26 

Jobosi. 

25 

Las  Villas. 

May. 

I 

Las  Lajas. 

2 

La  Vega. 

4 

Guasimas. 

3 

Arroyo  Blanco. 

5 

Hondones. 

9 

Cascorro. 

(I 

Babosa. 

10 

Salinas. 

13 

Nuevitas. 

II 

La  Sagua. 

16 

Apr. 

8 

Aug. 

16 

Apr. 

12 

t< 

30 

<( 

30 

n 

<( 

<< 

<( 

<( 

16 

u 

25 

i( 

27 

.'( 

30 

u 

2 

May. 

2,026 

Five  rebels   5  D 

Arcadio    Garcia i  " 

Three  rebels   3  " 

Four        "      4  " 

Three      "      3  " 

Five        " 5  " 

Roman  Hernandez i  <' 

Three  rebels 3  " 

Six    rebels..? 6  " 

Five  rebels 5  " 

Lieut.    B.    Salinas,  M.    Sanchez 
and  F.  Cabrera,  C.  Martinez, 

and  R.  Gonzalez 5  " 

Roque  Trujillo i  " 

One   rebel 2  " 

Captain    Coronas   i  "          "        " 

Miguel  G.  Gutierrez  (member  of 

Cuban  Congress)  and  another  2  "          "     " 

Five   rebels 5  *'          "     " 

One  rebel i  "         3  June. 

Leon  and  another   i  '■'■         14  May. 

Meliton  Ramos  and  Jore  Bitorla  2  '*          9      " 

One  rebel i  "          4      " 

J.  M.    Escancio i  "          3  June. 

Two  spies , 2  "          9      " 

Juan  Torres i  "        25  May. 

Carlos  Pena  and  Camilo  Velaz- 
quez   2  "           21         " 

Enrique  Flotas .• i  "          "      " 

Col.  Pascual  Beauvilliers,  Capt. 

Antonio     Bachiller,       Lieuts. 

Pedro     Lecerff     and  Ricardo  4  "          "      " 

2,094 


We  give  also  the  leaves  that  contain  the  names  of 
the  victims  of  the  Virginius  massacre. 


386 


THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 


April. 
5  Guaimaro. 

15  Diff.  places. 
24  Gibaro. 

May. 

16  Camaguey. 

June. 

29  Vapor. 
"  Tutela. 

July. 

7  Amero. 

20  Juan  Criollo. 

August. 
5  San  Carlos. 
13  Caobillas. 

September. 

8  Dos  Camioes. 

9  Cienaga. 

"  Ojo.  de  Agua. 
16  Negroes. 
27  Gloria. 

November. 
4  Santiago. 


5  Santa  Clara. 

6  Pulgas. 

7  Santiago. 


1873 

2,846 

Juan  Ramirez  Aldama i     D 

Marcial  Garcia  and  two  more..  3      " 

Antonio  Cruz    i      " 

Hilarro  Mendoza i      '< 

Three  working  men 3      " 

One  rebel i      " 

Two  rebels 2      " 

Two  rebels 2      " 

Six  runners 6      " 

Pedro  Nolasco  Zayas i      " 

Capl;.  Jose  Maria    Avila 2      " 

Two  rebels 2      " 

Two       "     2      " 

One       " I      '< 

Two       "      2      " 

Generals  Bernabe  de  Varona 
AND  W.  C.  Ryan,  Colonels 
Jesus  del   Sol   and    Pedro 

Cespedes 4      " 

Two.rebels 2      " 

Four  rebels 4      " 

Captain,  Jose  Fry  ;  Pilot,  Wil- 
liam Baward  ;  Mate,  James 
Flood  ;  Sailors — J.  C.  Harris, 
John  Bosa,  B.  P.  Chamber- 
lain, William  Kose,  Ignacio 
Duenas,  Antonio  Deloyo,  Jose 

2,886 


16  Apr. 
I    May 
23       '' 


18    July 
24      " 


17 


9 

Aug, 

30 

it, 

14 

Sept. 

28 

u 

30 

i: 

30 

11 

7   Nov. 
II       " 
15      " 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


387 


8  Santiago. 


9  San.  Manuel. 
10  Lagunas. 
"  Saramaguacan. 

"  Caridad. 
*'  Diif.  places. 


2,886 
Manuel  Teiran,  Ramon  Lar- 
ramendi,  Eusebio  Gariza,  Ed- 
ward Day,  J.  S.  Trujillo,  Jack 
Williamson,  Porfirio  Corvison, 
P.  Alfaro,  Thomas  Crigg, 
Frank  Good,  Paul  Khunrer, 
Barney  Herrald, Samuel  Card, 
John  Brown,  Alfred  Haisell, 
W.  J.  Price,  George  Thomas, 
Ezekiel  Durham,  Thomas 
Walter  Williams,  Simon  Broy- 
eur,  Leopold  Larose,  A.  Arci, 
John  Stewart,  Henry  Bond, 
George  Thompson,  James 
Samuel,  Henry  Frank,  James 

Read 37 

Arturo  Loret  Mola.  Augustin 
Varona,  Oscar  Varona,  Guil- 
lermo  Vails,  Jose  Boitel,  Sal- 
vador Penedo, Enrique  Castel- 
lanos,  Augustin  Santa  Rosa, 
Justo  Consuegra,  Francisco 
Porras  Pita,  Jose  Otero,  Her- 

minio  Quesada 12 

Two  rebels 2 

One  rebel i 

Fernando    Molino,  Juan  Perez, 

Antonio  Pages 3 

Rafael  Armas i 

Juan  Garces  and  two  others 3 


D       15   Nov. 


15 


2,945 


There  are  lists  of  prisoners  captured  by  Spaniards 
whose  fate  has  never  been  reported. 

We  select  two  pages  of  this  hideous  bookkeeping  as 
samples  : 


388 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


30  Sidonia. 

—  Sagua. 
September. 

I  Caguas. 
4  Mangas, 

6  San  Cristobal. 

7  Cauto  del  Paso. 

20  Cardenas. 

21  Tunas. 

27  Jagua. 

20  Las  Minas. 
October. 

6  Sierra  Jumagua. 

7  Las  Lajas. 

8  Sti.  Spiritus. 

10  Remedios. 

"  Puerto  Padre. 

12  Remedios. 

18  Contramaestre. 

19  Pto.  Principe. 

28  Puerto  Padre. 
19  El  Roble. 

31  Mijialito. 

—  Los  Negros.  . 

November. 
I   Baguana. 

4  Tacajo. 
"  Moron, 

5  Caunao. 

6  Jobosi. 

8  Holguin. 

11  El  Macio. 

12  Caunao. 

14  Sta.  Cruz. 
"    Tuinicu. 

15  Arroyo  Blanco. 


483 

Three 3 

Eight 8 

More  than  fifty  prisoners 51 

Twenty-four  conspirators 24 

Fifteen                     "          15 

Thirty-seven    (Boet) 37 

N.  Macario  y  N.  Lugo 2 

Juan  Sancho,  two  more  and  his 

personal   guard 8 

Thirteen  prisoners 13 

One  prisoner i 

Com.  Mendoza  and  others 3 

Seventy-one  prisoners   71 

One  prisoner i 

One         "        I 

Two        '•       2 

Two        "        2 

Two        '*       2 

Four       "        4 

Two  chiefs  and  five  more 7 

One I 

One I 

Thirteen  (Boet) 13 

Three  prisoners 3 

Zaldivar  and  two  more 3 

Captain  Carvajal i 

Three  prisoners 3 

Seven         "        7 

Five           "        5 

A  certain  number 5 

Five , 5 

Lorenzo  Xiques  y  Estrada  R.  C.  i 

Four  prisoners   4 

Two         **         2 

782 


D 


12  Sept. 
29  Aug. 

10  Sept. 

8  " 

11  " 

9  Oct. 
26  Sept. 

9   Oct. 


12 

<( 

14 

(( 

17 

u 

26 

(I 

17 

<< 

13 

Nov. 

29 

Oct. 

23 

Nov. 

3 

(< 

II 

(( 

5 

(( 

27 

(< 

27 

(< 

19 

<( 

14 

i< 

10 

(< 

14 

<( 

24 

<( 

14 

(< 

20 

(t 

24 

<( 

22 

Dec. 

HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


3«9 


1 6  Sipiabo. 

1 8  Moron. 

"  Cabaiguan. 

19  Portillo. 

"  Pinos  Blencos. 

20  Minas. 

"  Manacas. 

22  Zayas. 

"    Remedies. 

24  Sti.  Spiritus. 

25  Caunao. 

27  Holguin. 

28  Gua. 

C.  de  Zapata. 
December. 
12  Palmira. 

14  Velazquez. 
"    Purial. 

17  Seibabo, 

21  Arroyo  Blanco. 

23  Bijaru. 
"    Baez. 

24  Holguin. 

27  Mataguan. 

**  Sti.  Spiritus. 

31  Pta.  de  Guano. 

"  Casimba. 

January. 
3  Sta.  Catalinai. 

6  "  " 

7  Sta.  Cruz. 

11  Pto.  del  Padre. 

12  Yaguas. 

15  Guinia. 


782 

One   prisoner i 

Two         "         2 

Cepeda  R.  C.  and  eleven  more.  12 

Manuel  Codina  R.  C i 

Three  prisoners 3 

One           "          I 

Five  bearers  of  seditious  procla- 
mations    5 

Three   spies 3 

Three  rebel  chiefs 3 

J.  M.  Abreu  (incendiary) i 

Two  prisoners 2 

N.  Ramirez,  N.  Sarmiento  and 

N.  Chavarria 3 

Angel  Colas,  recruiting  officer,  i 

Ten  spies 10 

Three  prisoners 3 

Five            "         5 

One             "         I 

Twelve      **           12 

Twenty-five 25 

A  certain  number  of  spies 5 

Five  prisoners 5 

Bernardo   Millares,  Eladio  Ca- 
brera R.  C.  2 

Sixty-seven  prisoners 67 

Two  armed  rebels 2 

One             "            I 

Four           "            4 

Four  rebels 4 

Felix  Ferrer i 

One  rebel i 

Eight  prisoners 8 

Two         "  2 

A  certain  number  of  prisoners. .  5 

983 


D 


20 

Nov. 

26 

(( 

2 

Dec. 

2 

u 

22 

<( 

28  Nov. 

21 

<( 

22 

Dec. 

24 

u 

17 

(( 

27 

Nov. 

14 

Dec. 

8 

« 

2 

<( 

24 

« 

30 

(< 

6 

Jan. 

26 

(< 

28 

Dec. 

30 

<( 

26 

Jan. 

15 

<( 

I 

(( 

15 

<< 

5 

ii 

II 

u 

II 

a 

13 

a 

13 

(( 

25 

« 

23 

« 

21 

<( 

390 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


17  Limones. 

20  Cauto. 

21  Marroquin. 
"    Sta.  Clara. 

24  Holguin. 
"    Barajagua. 


24  Palmarejo. 
"    El  Roble. 
"    Cubitas. 

25  Caunaito. 

20  to  28  Pto.  Princ. 


983 

Three  prisoners 3 

Four         "          4 

One  chief  and  three  more 4 

Three  prisoners 3 

Three         "        3 

Some  prisoners,  among  them  the 
chiefs    Fernando    Toro    and 

B.  Perez 5 

One  prisoner.          i 

One         '* I 

Two         "       2 

Six          "        6 

Twenty-eight  prisoners 28 

1,043 


D 


25 

<( 

11 

Feb 

3» 

Jan 

24 

a 

29 

(< 

30 

a 

5 

Feb 

27 

Jan 

II 

Feb 

29 

Jan. 

8 

Feb 

The  closing  pages  we  give  complete. 


CONDEMNED    TO    DEATH    IN    GAROTTE,    VIL. 

Antonio  Fernandez  Bramosio,  Jacinto  Valdes,  Nic- 
olas Nin  y  Pons,  Pedro  Martin  Rivero,  Francisco 
Javier  Cisneros,  Ambrosio  Valiente 6 

Carlos  Manuel  de  Cespesdes,  Francisco  Vicente 
Aguilera,  Cristobal  Mendoza,  Eligio  Izaguirre, 
Eduardo  Agramonte,  Pedro  Maria  Aguero  y  Gon- 
zalez, Salvador  Cisneros  Betancourt,  Francisco 
Sanchez  Betancourt,  Pio  Rosado,  Fernando  For- 
naris  Miguel  Betancourt  Guerra,  Jesus  Rodri- 
guez, Jose  Izaguirre,  Miguel  Geronimo  Gutier- 
rez, Arcadio  Garcia,  Tranquilino  Valdes,  Antonio 
Lorda,  Eduardo  Machado,  Antonio  Zambrana, 
Ignacio  Agramonte,  Rafael  Morales,  Lucas  del 
Castillo,  Diego  Machado,  Ramon  Perez  Trujillo, 
Manuel  Quesada,  Thomas  Jordan,  Francisco  Ruz, 
Jose  Valiente,   Jose  Maria  Mora,  Antonio  Fer- 


March  10 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


391 


nandez  Bramosio,  Jose  Francisco  Bassora,  Fran- 
cisco Izquierdo,  Plutarco  Gonzalez,  Ramon 
Fernandez  Criado,  Francisco  Javier  Cisneros, 
Joaquin  Delgado,  Ramon  Aguirre,  Francisco 
Fesser,  Ignacio  Alfaro,  Miguel  Aldama,  Carlos 
del  Castillo,  Jose  Manuel  Mestre,  Hilario  Cisne- 
ros, Leonardo  Delmonte,  Jose  Maria  Cespedes, 
Francisco  Valdes  Mendoza,  Nestor  Ponce  de  Leon, 
Federico  Galvez,  Francisco  Javier  Balmaseda, 
Manuel  Casanova,  Antonio  Mora,.  Luis  Felipe 
Mantilla,  Manuel  Marquez,  Jose  Pena  and  Joa- 
quin Anido 55 


Santiago — One  hundred  persons 100 

Jose  Godino 

Sagua — Santiago  Feo 

Pablo  Feo 

Nene  Feo 

Pto.  Principe — Enrique  Flotas  and  Carlos  Rivero. 

Sta  Clara — Francisco  Cardenas  Perez 

Baldomero  Cancia  y  Garcia 

Pto.  Principe — Ignacio  Gonzalez  y  Gonzalez 

Antonio    Rodriguez    Gonzalez 

Bayama — Arcadio  Remon   

Juan  Francisco  Aguirre,  Martin  Aguirre,  Manuel 
Lopez  Pineiro,  Felix  Fuentes,  P.  M.  Riv- 
ero, J.  M.  Mayorga,  Hilario  Cisneros, 
R.  I.  Arnao,  J.  M.  Cespedes,  J.  B.  de 
Luna,  F.  V.  Mendoza,  Federico  Galvez, 
Rafael  M.  Merchan,  Tomas  Rudriguez, 
Miguel  Leiva  Salmon,  Joaquin  Jara- 
millo,  Cristobal  Diaz,  Pedro  Bernal .... 


D. 


D 


187] 

[. 

II 

Mch. 

13 

July. 

23 

(< 

(< 

u 

(( 

<( 

29 

Aug. 

5 

Sept. 

3  Nov. 


Official  Gazette, 
July.   1873. 


19 


191 


There  is  no  more   ghastly  record  in  the  horrors  of 
civil    war — but  as   the  desperate  struggle  goes  on  in 


392  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Cuba  there  is  a  rapid  accumulation  of  material  for 
an  enlarged  addition  of  the  dreadful  book  which  has 
surprising  support  in  official  papers. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  393 


CHAPTER  XXIIL' 

THE    CAUSE    OF    CUBA. 

Cuba  is  Governed  by  Spain  for  Spain — Cubans  are  Taxed  to  Protect 
Spain — Impolicy  Prepared  for  Revolution— Rebellion  Forced  by 
Misgovernment — Public  Papers  as  Testimony — A  Ruler  of  Spain 
Polite  to  General  Grant  About  Cuban  Independence. 

Stripped  of  detail,  the  cause  of  Cuba  is  that  the  gov- 
ernment is  not  in  the  hands  of  the  Cubans,  and  the 
powers  of  the  authorities  are  not  directed  to  promote 
the  interests  of  the  people  who  are  identified  with  the 
Island.  The  Cubans  are  a  secondary  consideration  all 
the  time — the  Spaniards  the  first.  The  present  race  of 
Cubans  have  no  more  rights  a  Spaniard  is  bound  to 
respect,  than  had  those  naked  children  found  four  cen- 
turies ago  among  the  flowers,  living  on  sweet  potatoes 
and  the  fruit  that  covered  the  trees  and  the  fish  that 
glittered  in  the  streams  almost  as  brilliantly  as  the 
birds  Whose  plumage  flashed  in  the  foliage,  and  in  the 
masses  of  radiant  bloom  that  overhung  the  rivers  and 
spread  over  the  valleys  and  adorned  the  slopes  of  the 
mountains  to  their  peaks.  It  did  not  enter  into  the 
spirit  of  the  Spaniards  then,  that  Cuba  was  for  the 
Cubans,  and  it  does  not  now.  They  have  never 
thought  of  it  from  that  day  to  this. 

Defenses  have  been  offered  for  the  systems  of  taxa- 
tion that  have  prevailed  from  time  to  time.  Not  one  of 
them  ever  fulfilled  the  conditions  of  being  levied  by 
Cubans  for  Cubans — by  the  people  of  the  Island  for  the 


394  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

people  of  the  Island.  It  is  the  peninsula  that  has  had 
the  power  and  has  used  it  in  Cuba  for  the  peninsula.  . 
The  taxes  are  multitudinous  and  are  searching,  grasp- 
ing and  exacting,  and  vast  sums  of  money  have  been 
raised  and  spent,  not  for  schools,  not  for  roads,  not  for 
the  improvements  that  would  have  revealed  untouched 
"sources  of  riches,  but  for  the  enrichment  and  indul- 
gence of  Spain  and  Spaniards.  If  the  Island  had  been 
transversed  by  roads  as  France  is,  if  labor  had  been  ap- 
plied to  the  clearing  of  forests,  the  drainage  of  swamps, 
there  would  have  been  fewer  fastnesses  for  the  insur- 
gent and  hiding  places  for  the  bandit.  If  the  cities 
could  have  received  the  attention  to  sanitary  improve- 
ments that  the  care  of  the  public  health  demands  and 
science  applies  with  infallibility,  if  even  the  harbor  of 
Havana  had  been  cleansed,  if  the  filth  of  the  sewage  of 
a  city  for  centuries  had  not  been  accumulated  in  one 
huge  cesspool,  the  yellow  fever  would  not  have  been 
a  perpetual  scourge  and  scare,  an  unquenchable  fire 
that  consumes  its  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands. 
There  was  a  project  of  making  a  canal  across  a  narrow 
peninsula  that  would  have  established  a  current  to 
cleanse  the  Havana  harbor,  but  of  course  the  money 
had  to  go  for  fortifications  and  pleasure  grounds,  or  to 
swell  those  corruption  funds  that  have  flowed  in  a 
rapid,  ceaseless  river  from  the  Island  to  the  peninsula. 
The  Spanish  have  not  forgotten  the  fourteen  million 
dollars  and  the  treasure  ships  besides,  that  were  captured 
by  the  English,  when  they  wasted  their  own  and  Ameri- 
can manhood  before  Havana  for  spoil.  The  political  econ- 
omy of  Spain  has,  from  the  beginning,  looted  the  Island,' 
and  the  Cubans  can  make  the  same  complaint  extend- 
ing through  the  generations  that  the  Spaniards  make 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  395 

of  the  English  for  a  space  of  time  less  than  a  year. 
The  Spaniards  remember,  with  a  sense  of  injustice, 
that  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  years  have  not  soft- 
ened, the  severe  government  of  the  conqueror,  Lord 
Albemarle.  There  is  a  gallery  of  portraits  in  the  pal- 
ace at  Havana  of  the  Spanish  generals  for  nearly  two 
hundred  years,  a  supurb  array  of  uniforms  and  striking 
Spanish  faces,  and  they  were  all  stern  rulers,  and  with 
few  exceptions  they  used  their  great  office  oppressively 
for  the  benefit  of  the  official  class,  regardless  of  the  in- 
terests or  the  susceptibilities  of  the  people,  and  they 
were  as  little  moved  by  the  protests  against  the  sinister 
methods  of  harvesting  money  as  Lord  Albemarle  and 
his  chief  of  artillery  were,  when  they  used  the  bells  of 
the  churches  to  rob  the  clergy. 

There  are  dififerences  of  opinion  in  our  country  as  to 
the  propriety  under  the  laws  of  political  economy,  and 
the  profit  so  far  as  the  people  at  large  are  concerned, 
of  customs  duties  imposed  for  revenue  and  for  the  pro- 
tection of  industries  at  home,  but  it  is  not  disputed  by 
the  free-trader  that  it  is  excellent  to  have  a  country  so 
develop  mechanical  skill  and  manufacturing  art,  as  to 
be  capable  of  asserting  herself,  and  of  a  certain  self- 
sufficiency  in  production  that  in  times  of  trial  enables 
the  people  belonging  to  the  same  political  system  to 
sustain  themselves  against  foreign  foes.  It  is  conceded, 
after  full  acknowledgment  of  all  the  glories  of  com- 
merce, that  it  is  well  to  have  markets  at  home.  There 
are  disagreements  as  to  the  better  ways  of  the  encour- 
agement of  varied  industries,  but  that  it  is  desira- 
ble they  should  be  fostered,  no  one  denies.  How  far 
they  should  be  stimulated  if  at  all,  is  one  thing,  but 
that    it    is  important    they  should   be  established  and 


39^  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

thrive  and  promote  the  general  welfare  by  their  diver- 
sity and  profitableness,  is  a  proposition  that  needs  only 
to  be  fairly  stated  to  be  frankly  conceded. 

The  Cubans  have  no  political  capacity  to  protect 
themselves.  The  islanders  are  helpless  in  the  grasp  of 
the  peninsulars,  and  the  policy  of  the  peninsula  is  that 
the  Island  shall  consume  the  manufactures  of  Spain  and* 
be  doubly  taxed  as  the  goods  go  and  come  for  the 
privilege  of  the  exchange. 

Spanish  soil  is  not  rich  in  the  sense  of  being  produc- 
tive of  grain  or  articles  of  food  and  luxury  to  enter  into 
commerce,  and  the  idea  that  prevails  is  that  Cuba  is  a 
farm  let  to  agriculturists,  who  shall  not  manufacture 
for  themselves,  but  purchase  the  goods  they  require 
from  the  proprietors  across  the  ocean,  and  be  taxed  for 
doing  it.  There  are  many  taxes — there  were  as  many 
as  the  plantations  in  time  of  peace  could  bear,  and 
there  are  but  two  articles  that  in  ordinary  conditions 
are  raised  largely  for  export,  sugar  and  tobacco,  even 
the  cultivation  of  coffee  having  fallen  into  neglect. 

David  Turnbull,  Esq.,  M.  A.,  writing  of  this  said,  in 
his  "Travels  in  the  West :" 

It  was  the  revolution  in  San  Domingo  which  gave  the  first  great  stimu- 
lus to  the  cultivation  of  the  coffee  plant  in  the  Island  of  Cuba.  The  em- 
igrants and  refugees  sought  shelter  wherever  they  could  find  it  in  the 
neighboring  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  or  on  the  nearest  points  of  the 
American  continent.  The  greatest  numbers  established  themselves  in 
Cuba  and  Jamaica;  but  it  has  been  remarked  that  those  in  less  easy 
circumstances  made  their  way  to  Cuba,  while  the  wealthier  classes  pre- 
ferred the  protection  which  the  British  government  afforded  them.  A 
sort  of  social  revolution,  affording  some  striking  indications  of  national 
character,  has  since  taken  place  in  the  affairs  of  these  refugees.  In  the 
English  as  in  the  Spanish  island,  they  have  undoubtedly  been  the  means 
of  turning  land  that  was  otherwise  useless  to  profitable  account;  of  im- 


(397) 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  399 

proving  the  culture  of  the  coffee,  as  well  as  the  mode  of  preparing  it  for 
the  market,  and  of  increasing  its  production  to  a  very  large  amount.  In 
Jamaica,  however,  the  coffee  planters  of  French  or  San  Domingo  origin 
have  not  been  able  to  withstand  the  competition  of  their  English  rivals, 
and  have  sunk  into  a  state  of  comparative  insignificance;  whereas  in 
Cuba,  having  only  Spaniards  to  contend  with,  they  have  succeeded  in 
rising  in  the  social  scale,  and  in  maintaining  their  ascendency  until  the 
period  which  seems  now  to  be  arriving,  when  the  coffee  grower  is  to 
sink  before  the  sugar  planter,  in  consequence  of  the  demand  for  sugar 
having  increased  in  a  more  rapid  ratio  than  the  corresponding  demand 
for  coffee,  combined  with  the  fact  that  the  supply  of  labor,  although 
great,  is  still  inadequate  to  the  demand  for  it.  Coffee  can  be  produced 
more  cheaply  in  other  countries,  but  Cuba  is  likely  to  maintain  its 
acknowledged  ascendency  in  the  production  of  sugar. 

The  Cuban  difficulty  has  been  an  artificial  system — 
the  interference  of  the  government,  always  away  over 
the  ocean,  favorable  to  cheap  production  and  low  fig-  ^ 
ures  for  the  two  articles,  sugar  and  tobacco,  and  unfa- 
vorable  to  home  markets.  Cuban  industry  being  forced 
to  export  its  products,  and  also  to  import  many  things 
that  ought  to  be  raised  at  home  in  the  fields,  or  wrought 
in  the  shops,  is  taxed  on  exports  and  imports — on  what 
is  sold  and  what  is  purchased — on  the  sugar  and  the 
tobacco,  and  on  machinery  and  clothing  and  food. 
Foreign  flour  and  meat  must  be  bought,  and  Spain,  of 
course,  discriminates  in  her  own  favor. 

The   corrupt    Spanish    custom-houses   take  toll  both  • 
ways  and  that  the  opportunities  to  discriminate  against 
honest  men — those  who  would  not  give  bribes — and  for 
the  bribe-givers,  furnish  the   foundation   of  many  for- 
tunes, is  a  fact  as  familiar  in  Havana  as  Moro  Castle. 

It  was  never  the  policy  of  Spain  that  Havana  should 
be  a  manufacturing  city.  She  was  expected  to  grow  on 
trade  exclusively — the  export  of  sugar  in  bags  and  to- 
bacco in  bales — but,  incidentally,  there  have  been  ex- 


400  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

tensive  tobacco  manufactures,  that  would  not  have  been 
permitted  if  the  industry  could  have  been  transplanted 
to  Spain,  and  even  that  is  being  taxed  away  to  Key 
West.  The  Spanish  pohcy  of  promoting  exports  of 
raw  material,  and  confining  plantation  products  for 
marketing  to  the  articles  that  together  were  worth 
about  one  hundred  millions  a  year,  is  a  most  simple 
system,  but  precisely  how  it  works  they  did  not  seem 
to  know  very  well. 

It  is,  for  example,  held  by  the  leading  representatives 
of  Spain  in  this  country,  that  the  prevention  of  the  grind- 
ing of  cane  to  make  sugar  did  not  cut  down  the  reve- 
nues of  Spain,  because  the  export  tax  was  small  com- 
pared with  other  taxes,  and  did  not  yield  the  bulk  of 
the  money  in  the  treasury — but  it  is  not  a  far  cry  to 
the  fact  that  the  customs  duties  on  the  imports,  and  the 
imports  too,  have  to  be  paid  out  of  the  produce,  and 
that  something  has  to  be  exported  to  get  the  money  to 
pay  with. 

If  there  is  no  sugar  and  no  tobacco  to  sell  —  as 
there  will  be  none  after  this  until  the  war  is  over — 
there  is  a  lack  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  annu- 
ally to  buy  things  with,  and  the  revenue  of  Cuba  for 
Spain  must  fall  off  a  million  dollars  a  month.  It  will 
be  seen,  as  this  situation  is  studied,  that  it  is  the  selfish 
policy  of  Spain  that  has  prepared  the  way  for  this  de- 
pletion of  her  resources.  If  Cuban  industry  had  been 
cared  for  instead  of  strangled — if  the  country  had  been 
in  a  greater  degree  self-sustaining — the  work  of  destruc- 
tion by  revolution  would  have  been  far  more  difficult. 
If  the  tyrants'  wish  that  the  people  had  but  one  neck, 
that  he  might  cut  it  through  at  a  single  stroke  with  his 
sword,  had   been  realized  so  far  as  the  neck  was  con- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  4OI 

cerned,  he  might  have  reaUzed  that  some  enemy  could 
have  struck  the  blow,  and  he  would  have  found  it  in- 
convenient to  have  lost  at  once  the  race  that  he  ruled, 
for  he  should  irretrievably  have  lost  his  occupation. 

Spain  has  a  tobacco  monopoly — the  state  is  the  pur- 
chaser, manufacturer,  and  salesman  of  tobacco,  and  the 
unsophisticated  supposition  is,  of  course,  the  Spaniards 
help  their  tobacco  plantations  in  Cuba  by  making  pur- 
chases there  ;  but  they  do  not  ;  they  prefer  the  less 
restricted  market  of  Virginia  ;  and  the  Spaniards  at 
home  use  a  great  deal  and  produce  little  sugar.  Of 
course,  they  patronize  always  their  beautiful  colony, 
Cuba,  for  sugar  !  Oh,  no ! — they  buy  largely  German 
beet  sugar.  It  is  not  so  good  as  the  Cuban,  but  when 
money  is  spent  by  Spain  for  Cuban  products  she  does 
not  care  to  face  the  results  of  her  own  crooked 
regulations. 

Fancy  the  ruling  class  of  a  country  composed,  age 
after  age,  of  foreign  born  men,  without  any  stake  except 
office  in  the  land  governed — with  no  purpose  but  that  of 
working  places  for  money  to  go  home  with.  When 
we  say  the  revenues  of  Cuba  are  not  sent  direct  to 
Spain,  there  should  be  an  annotation  in  mind  that  three- 
fourths  of  the  office-holders  in  Cuba  are  Spaniards,  and 
that  it  is  their  policy  to  get  away  with  savings,  and  that 
this  is  an  impoverishment  of  Cuba  for  Spain's  advan- 
tage. The  one-fourth  of  the  holders  of  office  who  are 
Cubans  have,  as  a  rule,  small  salaries,  and  pay  commis- 
sions in  Madrid  to  get  them. 

The  volunteers  in  Cuba,  now  63,000  strong,  are  men 
who  serve  in  the  Cuban  militia  three  years  to  get  rid  of 
the  conscription  for  five  years  in  Spain.  There  is  no 
show  for  native  Cubans  in  this  organization,  or  in  busi- 


402  THE   STORY   OF   CUBA. 

ness  comparatively,  for  the  Spaniards  rush  in,  and  it  is 
boasted  that  the  Cubans  are  handsomely  treated, 
because  they  are  not  coerced  to  perform  military  duty. 
The  sharp  Spaniards  flock  to  the  Island,  and  take  ser- 
vice as  clerks,  waiters,  cabmen,  and  all  the  situations 
sought  by  active  young  men,  and  with  the  motive  of 
military  service  in  Cuban  towns — home  guards — they 
consent  to  extremely  low  compensation,  crowding  out 
the  natives,  of  course.  They  go  home  as  soon  as  their 
military  liability  has  expired,  and,  cutting  wages  in  their 
various  Cuban  occupations,  they  are  an  army  for  Spain, 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  Cuba — preferred  to  the 
natives — another  drain  upon  the  manhood  and  healthy 
life  of  the  Island. 

There  has  been  much  said  about  the  representation  of 
Cuba  in  the  Spanish  Cortes,  but  it  has  not  efficacy — it  is 
a  form,  and  there  is  no  healing  virtue  in  it.  Cuban 
votes  are  allowed  to  count  for  minor  matters  only. 
There  is  not  even  the  shadow  of  self-government.  The 
captain-general  is  the  supreme  ruler,  and  he  is  a  military 
chieftain,  whose  will  is  the  law,  and  whose  usages  are 
those  of  martial  law,  and  this  is  the  crowning  feature  of 
every  one  of  the  vaunted  schemes  of  liberal  reform. 

There  has  been  an  endeavor  to  set  this  down  with 
"  malice  toward  none  and  charity  for  all,"  and  it  certainly 
accounts  for  the  frequent  risings  and  constant  agitation, 
that  have  at  last  resulted  in  the  war  that  is  overwhelm- 
ing in  ruin  Spaniards  and  Cubans  alike.  Each  effort  of 
the  Cubans  to  free  themselves  has  caused  the  imposi- 
tion of  burdens  until  the  load  is  beyond  endurance. 

The  cost  of  the  ten  years'  war  has  been  charged  to 
Cuba  by  Spain,  and  that  of  itself  takes  half  that  the 
customs  amounted  to  in  the  best  of  times.     It  is   not 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  403 

possible  for  the  Island  to  meet  further  requisition.  Be- 
fore the  present  war  had  been  determined  upon,  as  a 
last  resort,  the  planters  were  in  a  state  of  despond- 
ency— taxed  until  desperate.  Those  of  them  who  en- 
tered into  the  rebellion  say  :  "  We  had  nothing  to  lose — 
all  were  ruined  any  how.  We  had  to  conquer  or  die  or 
run  away." 

It  may  serve  some  suggestion  of  stratagem  or  impulse 
of  vanity  or  arise  from  a  vague  reasoning  that  there  is 
occasion  for  alarm,  because  Madrid  has  been  telegraph- 
ing to  Havana  that  the  minister  of  colonies  will  put  into 
efiFect  the  reforms  of  March  15th,  1895.  We  have  seen 
what  those  adjustments  are,  and  surely  they  are  not  ac- 
ceptable. 

Senor  Estrado  Palma  has  issued  a  manifesto  regard- 
ing the  pretended  reforms  which  have  been  persistently 
pushed  upon  the  public  attention,  and  that  which  he  has 
to  say  is  full  of  striking  pertinence.  He  writes,  the  "  re- 
forms "  are  unworthy  consideration,  and  "  we  are  firmly 
resolved  to  listen  to  no  compromise  and  to  treat  with 
Spain  only  on  the  basis  of  absolute  independence  for 
Cuba.  If  Spain  has  power  to  exterminate  us,  then  let 
her  convert  the  Island  into  a  vast  cemetery  ;  if  she  has 
not,  and  wishes  to  terminate  the  war  before  the  whole 
country  is  reduced  to  ashes,  then  let  her  adopt  the 
only  measure  that  will  put  an  end  to  it  and  recognize 
our  independence." 

Now  that  this  is  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  Cubans,  may  be  accepted  as  the  truth, 
and  that  which  is  and  is  to  come,  judged  accordingly. 

Senor  Estrado  Palma  proceeds  :  "  We  have  thrown 
ourselves  into  the  struggle  advisedly  and  deliberately  ; 
we  knew  what  we  would  have  to  face,  and  we  decided 


404  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

unflinchingly  to  persevere  until  we  should  emancipate 
ourselves  from  the  Spanish  government.  And  we 
know  that  we  are  able  to  do  it,  as  we  know  that  we  are 
competent  to  govern  ourselves.  Experience  has  taught 
us  that  as  a  people  we  have  nothing  to  envy  the  Span- 
iards ;  in  fact,  we  feel  ourselves  superior  to  them,  and 
from  them  we  can  expect  no  improvement,  no  better 
education.  We  are  Americans ;  we  breathe  the  pure 
air  of  free  institutions,  and  we  contemplate  with  envy 
the  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people.  We  are  in  as  good  condition  to  rule  our- 
selves without  any  fear  of  disorder  or  civil  war  as  were 
the  thirteen  American  colonies  when  they  emancipated 
themselves  from  England,  and  in  a  superior  condition 
to  the  Spanish  colonies  of  this  continent  when  they 
broke  from  the  Spanish  yoke.  Slavery  is  over  in  Cuba 
with  all  its  injustice  and  cruelties.  The  white  man  and 
the  colored  live  in  perfect  harmony,  without  prejudices 
or  resentment  between  them.  They  fight  together  to 
attain  political  liberty.  The  colored  people  in  Cuba  are 
superior  to  those  in  the  United  States.  They  are  in- 
dustrious, intelligent,  and  lovers  of  learning.  During 
the  last  fifteen  years  they  have  attained  wonderful  in- 
tellectual development.  On  the  other  hand,  thousands 
of  white  people,  with  all  the  facilities  offered  by  their 
wealth,  have  completed  their  education  in  foreign  coun- 
tries, especially  in  the  United  States,  where  they  have 
accustomed  themselves  to  republican  customs,  and  to 
the  exercise  of  their  rights  as  freemen,  thus  preparing 
themselves  and  preparing  their  sons  for  the  exercise  of 
those  same  rights  in  their  native  land  when  emancipated 
from  Spanish  domination." 
This  is  delivered  with  the  emphasis,  perhaps  the  ex- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  4^5 

travagance,  of  enthusiasm,  but  It  is  the  truth  of  the 
Cubans,  and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  should  familiarize  them- 
selves with  the  facts,  for  they  are  the  essentials  to  the 
understanding  of  the  fundamental  conditions  of  the  set- 
tlements the  future  must  bring  forth.  Senor  Palma 
tersely  states  facts,  when  he  says  :  "  Between  the  pres- 
ent revolution  and  the  government  of  Spain  there  is  no 
possible  arrangement  not  based  on  the  recognition  of 
Cuban  independence.  It  is  useless  to  speak  about  re- 
forms, or  even  of  the  more  liberal  home  rule.  All  that 
is  to  nurse  illusions  and  to  lose  time." 

The  parallel  that  Sefior  Palma  draws  between  the 
grievances  of  our  revolutionary  fathers,  when  they  de- 
clared their  independence,  and  the  cause  of  Cuba,  is  a 
master-piece,  and  should  be  familiar  to  all  American 
citizens.    This  is  it : 

We  Cubans  have  a  thousandfold  more  reason  in  our  endeavor  to  free 
ourselves  from  the  Spanish  yoke  than  the  people  of  the  thirteen  colonies 
when,  in  1775,  they  rose  in  arms  against  the  British  government.  The 
people  of  these  colonies  were  in  full  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  man  ; 
they  had  liberty  of  conscience,  freedom  of  speech,  liberty  of  the  press, 
the  right  of  public  meeting,  and  the  right  of  free  locomotion.  They 
elected  those  who  governed  them,  they  made  their  own  laws,  and,  in  fact, 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  self-government.  They  were  not  under  the  sway 
of  a  captain-general  with  arbitrary  powers,  who,  at  his  will,  could  im- 
prison them,  deport  them  to  penal  colonies,  or  order  their  execution  even 
without  the  semblance  of  a  court-martial.  They  did  not  have  to  pay  a 
permanent  army  and  navy  that  they  might  be  kept  in  subjection,  nor  to 
feed  a  swarm  of  hungry  employees  yearly  sent  over  from  the  metropolis 
to  prey  upon  the  country.  They  were  never  subjected  to  a  stupid  and 
crushing  customs  tariff  which  compelled  them  to  go  to  the  home  markets 
for  millions  of  merchandise  annually,  which  they  could  buy  much  cheaper 
elsewhere  ;  they  were  never  compelled  to  cover  a  budget  of  twenty-six 
or  thirty  million  dollars  a  year  without  the  consent  of  the  taxpayers  and 


406  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA.^ 

for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the 
oppressor,  to  pay  the  salaries  of  thousands  of  worthless  European  em- 
ployees, the  whole  interest  on  a  debt  not  incurred  by  the  colony,  and 
other  expenditures  from  which  the  Island  received  no  benefit  whatever, 
for  out  of  all  those  millions  only  the  paltry  sum  of  $700,000  was  appar- 
ently applied  for  works  of  internal  improvement,  and  one-half  of  which 
invariably  went  into  the  pockets  of  the  Spanish  employees. 

If  the  right  of  the  thirteen  British  colonies  to  rise  in  arms  in  order 
to  acquire  their  independence  has  never  been  questioned  because  of  the 
attempt  of  the  mother  country  to  tax  them  by  a  duty  on  tea  or  by  the 
Stamp  Act,  will  there  be  a  single  citizen  in  this  great  republic  of  the 
United  States,  whether  he  be  a  public  or  a  private  man,  who  will  doubt 
the  justice,  and  more  than  the  justice,  the  necessity  in  which  the  Cuban 
people  find  themselves  of  fighting  to-day  and  to-morrow  and  always, 
until  they  shall  have  overthrown  Spanish  oppression  and  tyranny  in 
their  country,  and  formed  themselves  into  a  free  and  independent  re- 
public ? 

It  is  a  question  of  the  highest  interest  and  moment 
whether  the  war  reopened  in  1895  was  avoidable,  and 
the  strongest  testimony  that  it  was  not,  we  find  in  the 
address  to  the  people  of  Cuba  of  the  Central  Board  of 
the  Liberal  Autonomist  party,  which  makes  the  last  elo- 
quent plea  against  war.  The  address  asserted  for  the 
party  that  it  had  "  worked  for  many  years  to  avoid  any 
future  strife,  and  to  prevent  anything  that  might  jus- 
tify or  afford  pretext  for  it.  The  Autonomist  party  is 
the  depository  of  the  hopes  and  ideals  of  the  Cuban 
people."  And  the  further  claim  was  made,  "the  only 
party  of  reasonable  opposition  that  has  ever  been  organ- 
ized in  the  country,  for  which  consideration  it  is  now 
incumbent  on  us  to  make  a  franl^  statement  of  our  po- 
sition, and  do  our  best  to  unite  the  opinions  and  feel- 
ings of  all  who  have  faith  in  our  loyalty  and  confidence 
in  our  patriotism  at  this  time,  that  while  the  govern- 
ment is  making  great  efforts  to  quell  the  rebellion  in 


HER   STRUGGLES  fOR  LIBERTY.  ^oy 

its  beginning,  the  whole  people  and  its  genuine  repre- 
sentatives  must  also,  on  their  part,   help  to  maintain 
order  and  protect  the  common  interests." 
Then  followed  this  ornate  declaration : 

The  trouble  has  started  just  when  a  new  order  of  things  had  been, 
established,  to  which  our  deputies  and  senators  have  contributed  with 
purity  and  honesty  of  purpose.  The  government  that  presided  over  this 
work  of  peace  is  not  the  one  that  will  have  to  put  it  into  execution.  The 
financial  situation,  which  was  most  critical  for  reasons  independent  of 
the  action  of  governments,  is  becoming  more  complex  on  account  of  the 
expenses  and  anxiety  caused  by  the  war,  at  the  moment  that  a  happy 
understanding  amongst  the  various  local  parties  seemed  to  secure  in  a 
short  time  for  our  threatened  sources  of  wealth,  that  limited  help  which, 
under  grave  circumstances,  can  be  obtained  only  from  the  governing 
powers  by  stimulating  individual  enterprise  and  the  fruitful  spirit  of 
association,  which  will,  in  the  end,  affect  the  salvation  of  said  wealth. 

The  cry  of  rebellion  has  sounded  here,  having  been  uttered  from 
abroad  at  the  risk  of  the  lives  and  property  of  others,  by  a  group  of  irre- 
sponsible conspirators  who  have  spent  many  years  away  from  this  coun- 
try, whose  real  condition  is  unknown  to  them,  pretending  to  liberate  it 
from  evils  which  they  would  not  suffer  in  common  with  us,  in  the  same 
manner  that  they  will  also  shun  those  that  must  follow  their  preposter- 
ous and  condemnable  attempt,  and  even  perhaps  the  risks  to  which  they 
may  expose  the  obdurate  instruments  of  their  folly;  but  even  in  absence 
of  such  trouble  that  is  menacing  the  fundamental  interests  and  the  fu- 
ture of  this  country,  our  central  board  would  have  made  it  their  duty 
to  address  the  people  on  the  eve  of  the  establishment  of  a  new  regime 
created  with  the  co-operation  of  our  parliamentary  representatives  in  the 
midst  of  an  atmosphere  of  benevolence  and  concord  "  as  they  had  never 
met  before  at  the  metropolis,"  and  of  which  they  desired  to  make  a 
loyal  testimony  in  the  presence  of  their  compatriots;  for  as  this  change 
in  the  disposition  of  mind  proves  that  the  suspicions  and  obstacles  which 
so  often  had  interfered  with  colonial  reforms  have  begun  to  disappear 
in  large  proportion,  it  is  now  quite  proper  to  make  it  constant  that  the 
real  Cuban  people,  in  spite  of  said  emigrant  conspirators,  will  recipro- 
cate such  rectification  in  the  traditional  policy,  if  the  government  main- 
tains it  in  the  same  spirit  of  concord  and  confidence  under  which  it  was 
originated.. 


408  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

But  it  is  unquestionable  that  the  actual  disturbance  primes  all  other 
affairs,  and  must  affect  every  one  of  them.  Even  in  the  probable  case 
that  the  rebellion  be  soon  overcome  with  the  decided  concurrence  of 
public  opinion,  its  pernicious  effects  must  be  felt  for  many  years. 

It  is  apparent  in  this  paper,  which  is  well  known  in 
Cuba,  that  the  gentlemen  who  prepared  and  signed  it 
were  without  knowledge  of  the  elements  they  were 
dealing  with,  and  that  the  remedies  they  thought  would 
cure  all  troubles,  had  no  virtue,  for  they  were  inade- 
quate to  cope  with  the  disease.  The  Liberal  Autono- 
mists could  have  no  comprehension  of  the  weaknesses 
of  the  alleged  reforms,  or  the  forces  that  were  muster- 
ing for  the  rebellion. 

Sefior  Moret,  former  Spanish  minister  of  the  colonies, 
has  been  talking  Cuban  ''  reform  "  in  Madrid,  profess- 
ing himself  a  thorough  Liberal,  and  he  tells  of  the  re- 
forms he  thinks  necessary,  and  he  would  give  this  : 

First — Economic  reform.  I  mean  by  this  free  trade,  the  guarantee 
of  all  foreign  capital  employed  in  Cuba,  the  application  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Cuban,  revenue  to  the  public  works  of  the  Island,  and  unity 
or  similarity  of  the  banking  system  employed,  extending  to  Cuba  the 
national  credit. 

Precisely.  But  why  was  not  this  attended  to  some 
time  between  1878  and  1895  ?  The  Spanish  minister  to 
the  United  States,  who  so  ably  defends  his  country, 
has  the  same  idea  of  reform,  but  it  comes  too  late. 
Senor  Moret  wants  political  reform,  after  "  the  com- 
plete pacification  of  the  Island."  But  it  will  not  be 
pacified,  and,  therefore,  there  is  no  reform  possible. 
Senor  Moret  is  dreaming.  He  even  talks  of  a  "  refer- 
endum "  in  regard  to  administrative  reform,  but  the 
discussion  of  the  decoration  of  a  house  that  is  on  fire 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  409 

should  be  deferred.  E.  del  Castillo,  member  of  the 
Cuban  Press  Company  of  New  York,  writes  of  the  re- 
cent election  in  Cuba : 

Theoretically,  Cuba  is  represented.  Practically,  she  is  not.  There 
are  1,650,000  people  in  the  Island,  of  whom  1,000,000  are  white.  Yet 
in  the  elections  only  47,649  men  have  been  allowed  to  vote  for  members 
of  the  Cortes,  and  of  these  over  20,000  were  not  Cubans  at  all,  but 
Spaniards,  officially  or  otherwise,  resident  in  Cuba.  Out  of  about  forty 
Cuban  members  of  the  Cortes,  only  four  represent  Cuban  constitu- 
encies. 

Here  we  have  in  a  nutshell  what  the  so-called  representation  of  thirty 
deputies  and  sixteen  senators  in  the  Spanish  Cortes  claimed  by  the  cor- 
respondent amount  to. 

During  the  recent  elections  in  Cuba,  out  of  thirty  odd  deputies  elected, 
there  appears  only  one  native-born  Cuban,  and  who,  by  the  by,  is  a  ren- 
egade. All  the  others  are  native-born  Spaniards,  some  of  whom  have 
never  been  in  Cuba,  and  who  only  know  of  the  Island  from  their  geo- 
graphical knowledge. 

Senor  Moret  was  asked  : 

"  Does  your  Exellency  agree  with  Senor  Sagasta  that 
the  Spanish  people,  as  a  whole,  would  resent  friendly 
overtures  from  the  United  States  ? " 

He  said  : 

"  I  do  thoroughly  agree  with  him.  Spanish  pride  will 
not  allow  any  interference  from  the  United  States. 
This  is  due  chiefly  to  the  language  employed  in  the  sen- 
ate and  House  of  Representatives." 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  wild  talk  in  Congress, 
but  if  there  is  something  said  on  one  side  of  the  ocean 
that  is  not  statesmanlike,  it  is  no  reason  why  a  states- 
man on  the  other  side  should  give  way  to  emotion  and 
become  effusive. 

The  good  offices  of  the  United  States  were  offered  to 


410  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

Spain  during  the  ten  years'  war.  President  Grant  sug- 
gested that  Spain  should  recognize  Cuban  indepen- 
dence. The  correspondence  between  Secretary  of  State 
Fish  and  Minister  Sickles,  is  interesting.  Mr.  Hitt, 
chairman  of  the  House  Committee  of  foreign  relations, 
referred  to  this  correspondence  recently  on  the  floor  of 
the  House,  saying  : 

It  is  the  very  case  we  have  in  hand.  That  was  an  insurrection  or  re- 
bellion in  Cuba  not  half  so  extensive  as  the  present,  and  it  was  near  the 
beginning.  Then  the  good  offices  of  the  United  States  were  offered  to 
bring  the  war  to  a  close  on  the  basis  of  Cuban  independence,  Spain  to  be 
paid  an  indemnity  which  the  United  States  should  guarantee. 

The  ruler  of  Spain  was  General  Prim,  and  he  received  that  proposition 
in  the  same  friendly  spirit  in  which  it  was  made.  There  was  no  rupture 
of  relations.  I  will  not  read  all  his  answers,  which  are  contained  in,  and 
discussed  through,  several  despatches  of  considerable  length,  but  only  to 
show  its  spirit  I  will  give  a  few  words.  They  may  conveniently  be 
found  by  members  in  Senate  Report  141,  if  anyone  desires  to  read  it. 
At  the  conclusion  of  his  remarks,  assenting  to  the  proposition  of  Mr. 
Sickles,  he  said: 

"  I  do  not  flatter  myself  that  Spain  will  retain  possession  of  the  Island. 
I  consider  that  the  period  of  colonial  autonomy  has  virtually  arrived. 
However  the  present  contest  may  end,  whether  in  the  suppression  of  the 
insurrection  or  in  the  better  way  of  an  amicable  arrangement  through 
the  assistance  of  the  United  States,  it  is  equally  clear  to  me  that  the 
time  has  come  for  Cuba  to  govern  herself;  and  if  we  succeed  in  putting 
down  the  insurrection  to-morrow  I  shall  regard  the  subject  in  the  same 
light  that  the  child  has  attained  its  majority,  and  should  be  allowed  to 
direct  its  own  affairs.  We  want  nothing  more  than  to  get  out  of  Cuba, 
but  it  must  be  done  in  a  dignified,  and  honorable  manner." 

That  was  in  response  to  General  Grant's  proposition  that  the  indepen- 
dence of  Cuba  should  be  recognized  and  that  an  indemnity  should  be 
made  to  Spain,  which  would  be  guaranteeci  by  the  United  States.  Gen- 
eral Prim,  however,  made  a  condition  that  the  Cubans  must  first  lay 
down  their  arms,  and  after  that  there  might  be  a  vote  by  the  people  of 
Cuba  on  the  question  of  separation.  But  the  Cuban  people  would  not 
consent  to  lay  down  their  arms. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


411 


The  difficulty  is  one  that  stays.  The  Spaniards  re- 
fuse to  do  anything  when  they  propose  that  the  Cubans 
shall,  first  of  all,  submit  themselves  to  Spain.  That  can- 
not happen.  The  fact,  however,  that  General  Prim  did 
not  regard  the  American  proposition  a  personal  insult 
when  it  came  from  General  Grant,  shows  that  Spanish 
pride  is  not  always  impracticable,  and  one  of  the  prelim- 
inaries to  an  accommodation  is  that  Spain  shall  be  edu- 
cated by  her  misfortunes  to  understand  the  cause  of 
Cuba,  and  consent  to  her  independence. 


412  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


THE    CRISIS    IN    CUBA. 


This  War  not  a  Ten  Years'  War — The  Fighting  too  Fast  and  Furious  to 
Last — The  Crisis  Financial,  Industrial,  Social,  Military  and  Politi- 
cal— General  Lee's  Important  Functions — The  Policy  of  the  Ad- 
ministration— Senator  White's  Speech — James  Creelman's  Story  of 
Massacre— The  Power  and  Duty  of  the  United  States — The  Mutual 
Hatred  of  the  Creole  and  the  Spaniard,  and  Influence  of  the  Aboli- 
tion of  Slavery. 

This  will  not  be  a  ten  years'  war.  It  is  too  fast  and 
furious  to  last  so  long.  The  tedious  struggle  from 
1868  to  1878  was,  in  its  most  important  manifestations, 
confined  to  two  provinces,  and  those  of  the  extreme 
east  and  of  the  least  importance  to  agriculture  and  com- 
merce of  the  six  modern  divisions  of  the  Island. 

The  vital  parts  of  the  country  were  not  assailed  or 
menaced.  Sugar  making,  tobacco  growing,  cutting  and 
curing  were  carried  on  as  usual,  with  the  exception  of 
districts  whose  losses  did  not  affect  the  general  result. 
The  presence  of  the  Spanish  army  increased  the  stir  in 
the  streets  and  shops,  the  hotels  and  theatres  of  Ha- 
vana. The  crops  brought  in  money  year  after  year, 
and  only  in  the  infected  provinces  were  plantation 
profits  reduced  and  the  course  of  living  seriously  un- 
settled. In  the  years  of  the  wearisome  skirmishing  in 
the  east  end,  labor  was  employed  in  the  richest  parts  of 
the  country.     Disorders  were  localized. 

This  war  is  another  affair.     The  military  forces  en- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  413 

gaged  are  three  times  as  large  on  both  sides  as  they 
were  when  they  reached  their  maximum,  before  Campos 
succeeded  in  arranging  the  truce  of  Zanjon.  The  pol- 
icy of  Gomez  has  been  this  time  to  force  conclusions, 
and  the  way  he  reduces  Spanish  resources  is  obvious. 
First, the  armies  of  the  Spaniards  are,  with  the  volunteers 
and  the  guerilla  bands,  nearly  two  hundred  thousand, 
and  they  cannot  live  off  the  country  as  it  has  been  swept 
with  fire,  despoiled  of  labor  and  deprived  of  domestic 
animals.  The  food  supplies  must  come  from  abroad, 
and  are  found  especially  in  Spain  and  the  United  States, 
and  expenses,  it  is  thus  accountable,  are  greatly  in  excess 
of  all  former  periods. 

It  is  also  the  rigid  order  of  the  Spanish  authorities 
that  the  soldiers  shall,  for  their  own  sake,  be  restrained 
from  indulgence  in  the  tempting  fruit  of  Cuba.  The 
diet  of  beans,  rice  and  pork  may  be  less  palatable,  but 
is  much  more  wholesome. 

Heretofore  the  known  riches  of  Cuba  were  a  help  to 
Spanish  credit.  Now  it  is  known  in  all  the  money  mar- 
kets of  the  world  that  the  disputed  Island  is  mortgaged 
for  far  more  than  it  will  ever  be  worth,  under  Spanish 
rule,  for  the  payment  of  the  charges  of  old  debts. 
Therefore  there  is  a  crisis  as  to  the  credit  of  Spain,  and 
the  war  must  be  fought  out  speedily,  or  there  will  be  a 
collapse  in  her  finances. 

The  policy  of  Gomez  has  been  to  make  the  war  a  mat- 
ter of  urgency.  He  is,  as  Lord  Randolph  Churchill 
said  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  "an  old  man  in  a  hurry,"  and  he 
wants  the  fight  fought  before  the  famine  comes.  He 
responded  to  Spain's  imposing  military  forces  aggres- 
sively, and  there  were  two  purposes  in  the  character  he 
gave  his  campaigning.     The  first  was   to  abolish   the 

C— 24 


414  ^^^   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Cuban  revenues  of  Spain  by  stopping  the  "  grinding"  of 
cane,  and  at  first  he  only  fired  enough  cane  fields  to 
.give  notice  that  sugar  production  was  inconsistent  with 
the  Cuban  struggle  for  liberty.  Second,  the  discontin- 
uance of  the  ordinary  occupations  of  labor  on  the  sugar 
plantations,  set  free,  for  war  purposes,  multitudes  of 
strong  men,  and  they  ground  their  machetes,  con- 
scripted horses  and  mules,  and  set  forth,  soldiers  of 
fortune  and  freedom.  It  was  with  these  men  the  cel- 
ebrated raid  of  November  last  was  made,  and  that  with 
the  aid  of  the  ultra-Spaniards,  who  demanded  inhuman- 
ity, overthrew  Campos  and  introduced  Weyler. 

During  the  long  march  from  Santiago  and  Puerto 
Principe  to  Pinar  del  Rio,  the  insurgents  gave  out  to 
all  concerned  that  they  wanted  to  stop  the  sugar  works, 
doing  as  little  mischief  otherwise  as  they  could,  and 
they  often  spared  cane  fields,  burning  only  those  of 
men  obnoxious  to  the  revolutionists,  and  not  sweeping 
away,  killing  or  burning  the  horses  and  carts  whose 
reason  for  being  was  the  transportation  of  cane  to  the 
grinding  mills  and  furnaces. 

At  this  time,  which  was  about  coincident  with  the 
Marin  administration — Captain-General  Marin  filling 
the  gap  between  Campos  and  Weyler — the  understand- 
ing was  that  while  the  sugar  interest  was  essential  to  the 
Spanish  domination  and  must  be  "limited"  so  as  not  to 
yield  revenue.  The  tobacco  industry  was,  on  the  whole, 
favorable  to  the  insurgents,  in  this  at  least,  that  many 
of  the  tobacco  planters  and  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers were  liberal  contributors  to  the  Cuban  war  fund, 
and  that  was  a  revenue  that  must  not  be  cut  off. 

Of  course  the  appearance  of  Weyler  introduced  a 
new  order  of  things.     The  Cubans  who  had  means  to 


COCOANUT  PAI,M 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  417 

keep  them  alive  on  the  voyage  to  Mexico,  South  Amer- 
ica, or  other  islands,  or  the  United  States,  fled  in  thou- 
sands to  avoid  the  dread  mysterious  criminality  attrib- 
uted to  the  new  captain-general.  The  greatest  panic 
was  concerning  the  stringent  measures  anticipated  from 
him  to  compel  the  Cubans  to  be  active  for  or  against 
Spain,  and  this  meant  persecution,  confiscation,  perhaps 
execution,  and  as  a  choice  of  evils  exile  was  preferred. 

It  soon  appeared  that  General  Weyler  held  in  reserve 
his  dreadful  reputation,  and  that  the  first  chapter  was  to 
have  some  mercy  and  hint  of  conciliation  in  it,  but 
the  scattered  Spanish  soldiers  were  hunted  up  and 
rushed  to  the  front.  There  was  intelligence  and  en- 
ergy in  his  administration,  and  the  show  of  success  in 
rolling  back  the  rebels  then  largely  in  the  w^est  end, 
and  most  dangerous  there — gave  the  general  encour- 
agement— and  he  congratulated  himself  that  he  was 
driving  the  enemy  eastward  and  had  them  already  in 
the  southeast  of  Matanzas  instead  of  in  the  southeast 
and  centre  of  Pinar  del  Rio,  where  he  had  found  them; 
and  at  this  juncture  came  the  hopeful  anticipation  that 
"the  planters  might  grind,"  as  they  phrase  it  in  Cuba, 
"with  safety  by  the  15th  of  March."  There  was  not 
quite  a  proclamation  of  this,  but  there  was  a  positive 
and  a  confident  expectation. 

The  insurgent's  answer  soon  came.  It  was  evident 
that  the  way  to  recruit  the  rebel  columns  was  to  stop 
work  in  the  fields  on  the  tobacco  as  well  as  on  the  cane 
plantations,  and  the  war  in  the  west  took  the  form  of  a 
general  strike — one  may  say  a  sympathetic  strike — 
and  as  this  was  just  the  time  for  cutting  tobacco  which 
was  giving  signals  of  the  coming  blossoms,  every  hand 
was  a  treasure  and  each  day  was  precious.     The  strike 


41  8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

was  ruin  to  the  tobacco  men,  Labor  got  on  horseback 
and  rode  away  with  the  raiders.  Soon  it  became  evi- 
dent that,  instead  of  the  resumption  of  the  sugar  indus- 
try, there  was  an  end  to  tobacco  raising  while  the  war 
raged. 

Instead  of  gathering  the  tobacco  in  those  far-famed 
regions  where  the  leaf  is  good  as  gold  and  has  the 
flavor  the  world  knows  and  pays  for  so  well,  the  fields 
were  trampled  and  the  torch  was  applied  to  the  tobacco 
as  well  as  the  sugar  houses.  Maceo,  instead  of  being 
"  Oriented,"  rode  from  province  to  province  for  a  few 
weeks  and  reappeared  in  the  west.  Then  the  torch 
answered  Weyler  in  the  sugar  fields,  and  the  fiery  storm 
of  desolation  of  the  island  by  the  Cubans  to  impoverish 
the  Spaniards,  and  by  the  Spaniards  to  deprive  the 
Cubans  of  shelter  and  food,  set  in,  both  sides  succeed- 
ing. There  is  a  crisis  in  the  favored  industries,  and  the 
gaunt  wolf  of  hunger  is  at  the  doors  of  the  people. 

The  insurgents  are  reinforced,  and  it  is  war  to  the 
knife  and  pistol  as  well  as  with  the  torch  and  rifle. 
The  deathless  tenacity  with  which  Maceo  adheres  to 
the  west  end,  implies  understanding  with  him  that  he 
should  be  supplied  by  his  friends  in  the  United  States 
with  food  and  cartridges.  The  Spanish  captain-general 
has  thrown  all  his  available  battalions  on  the  trocha  at 
the  narrowest  part  of  the  Island,  a  few  miles  west  of 
Havana,  and  it  is  his  theory  that  he  has  the  insurgent 
leader  in  a  trap,  and  the  gunboats  are  swarming  around 
the  coast  of  Pinar  del  Rio  to  cut  off  help  from  the  sea, 
while  the  Bermuda  sails  away  at  high  speed,  equipped 
for  a  sea  fight  if  necessary,  and  we  are  told  that  the  in- 
surgent bands  are  moving  westward  to  take  advantage 
of  Spanish  forces  on  the  trocha  beyond  Havana,  de- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


419 


termined  at  all  hazards  to  make  a  diversion  to  relieve 
Maceo  of  a  part  of  the  pressure  of  the  overwhelming 
force  thrown  against  him. 

There  is  a  military  crisis,  therefore,  coincident  with  that 
of  the  agricultural  industries,  and  of  the  commercial  in- 
terests associated  with  the  Island,  and  the  finances  of 
Spain.  Still  more,  there  is  the  political  crisis  signalized  by 
the  appointment  of  General  Fitz-Hugh  Lee  to  be  consul- 
general  of  Cuba,  for  this  must  mean  something  more  than 
ordinary  business.  General  Lee  is  not  the  consul-general 
merely,  but  truly  a  plenipotentiary-extraordinary.  He 
has  the  situation  to  study  on  behalf  of  the  president  of 
the  United  States,  particularly  the  military  positions  and 
prospects,  and  the  social  and  political  aspects.  This  is 
the  confession  of  the  president  and  his  cabinet  that  they 
are  perplexed  by  the  conflict  of  testimony  ;  and  they  feel 
the  gravest  responsibility,  and  are  anxious  for  the  whole 
truth. 

There  has  been  a  great  deal  said  in  Congress  that 
was  not  of  clear  signification,  and  the  purpose  of  which 
was  evidently  obscure  to  the  orators  themselves.  There 
appeared  in  the  Congressional  Record  of  March  2,  how- 
ever, the  speech  of  Senator  White  of  California,  which 
was  exceptional.  It  was  authenticated  with  informa- 
tion, and  there  was  in  its  construction  and  tone  the  evi- 
dence to  all  students  of  the  law  and  the  facts,  that  the 
senator  was  in  close  touch  and  sympathy  with  the 
executive  authority.  This  speech,  there  is  no  reason- 
able question,  defined  in  the  last  week  of  February  the 
conception  of  duty  for  the  administration,  and  it  has 
not  been  perceptibly  modified  even  by  the  passage  of 
the  concurrent  resolution  of  the  houses  of  Congress, 
which  was  followed  by  a  curiously  complacent  calm. 


420  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Senator  White  said  all  senators  sympathized  with  the 
struggling  patriots,  of  Cuba,  and  would  rejoice  to  see 
them  govern  themselves.  The  proceedings  of  Congress 
should  be  orderly,  in  accordance  with  the  customs  of 
enlightened  nations,  and  if  the  subject  was  approached 
through  concurrent  resolution,  designed  to  be  of  itself 
effective  as  a  declaration  of  belligerency,  the  constitu- 
tion required  such  resolution  to  be  joint,  not  concur- 
rent. If  there  was  to  be  a  declaration  made  announ- 
cing belligerency,  it  would  have  no  effect,  unless  pre- 
sented to  the  president,  and  it  was  doubtful  whether  it 
would  have  any  effect,  unless  actually  approved  by 
him.     We  quote  the  senator  : 

I  afifirm  that  the  question  of  the  recognition  of  the  existence  of  a  rev- 
olutionary government  is  vested  in  the  Executive.  Whether  this  power 
is  exclusive  it  is  unnecessary  to  decide,  though  I  shall  allude  incident- 
ally to  this  phase.  When  the  senator  from  Alabama  stated  that  he  de- 
nied the  power  of  the  Executive,  unaided  by  Congressional  action,  to 
recognize  the  belligerency,  it  seems  to  me  that  his  statement  was  unsup- 
ported by  precedent  or  reason.  I  cannot  find  any  other  authority  for  it. 
True,  Mr.  President,  a  joint  resolution,  signed  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  recognizing  belligerency,  would  operate,  if  not  by  virtue 
of  the  action  of  Congress,  certainly  so,  because  it  was  approved  by  the 
Executive.  I  do  not  find  it  necessary  to  contend  that  Congress  cannot 
pass  a  bill  recognizing  belligerency  over  the  veto  of  the  Executive.  I  can 
find  no  such  instance,  however.  I  trust  that  no  conflict  of  that  nature 
will  ever  arise. 

What  is  the  effect  of  a  declaration  of  belligerency  ?  Is  it  anything, 
when  properly  made,  to  which  a  nation  has  a  right  to  take  exception  ? 
Manifestly  not.  In  such  an  instance  we , assert  neutrality.  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  issues  his  proclamation,  declaring  that  this 
country  will  stand  hands  off;  that  we  will  not  interfere.  It  is  not  a  proc-, 
lamationof  war,  it  is  a  proclamation  of  peace;  it  is  not  an  announcement 
of  interference;  it  is  an  announcement  of  non-interference;  it  is  not 
opening  ourselves  to  the  charge  that  we  are  attempting  to  injure  a 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  421 

friendly  nation,  but  it  means  that  we  have  concluded  that  there  are  con- 
tending parties  whose  armed  conflict  is  sufficiently  important  to  be  dig- 
nified by  the  term  war,  and  that  we  will  remain  impartial  spectators. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  recognition  of  the  independence  of  a  revolution- 
ary country  is  often  the  subject  of  vigorous  protest. 

It  passes  without  saying,  that  no  nation  is  rudely  dismembered,  save 
after  vigorous  contest  and  exhaustive  effort.  The  history  of  our  coun- 
try demonstrates  that  we  have  never  recognized  the  independence  of  a 
state  which  has  successfully  revolted  without  subjecting  ourselves  to  the 
criticisms  of  the  mother-country.  There  is  much  more  danger,  much 
more  probability  of  conflict  with  a  foreign  power,  in  consequence  of  the 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  a  revolted  government,  than  when  we 
merely  recognize  belligerency.  No  nation  can  be  expected  to  contem- 
plate with  satisfaction  the  loss  of  her  possessions,  and,  unlike  the  able 
senator  from  Alabama,  I  regard  the  power  to  recognize  independence, 
which  he  concedes  to  be  in  the  Executive,  as  much  more  important  than 
the  authority  to  recognize  belligerency,  which  he  denies  to  the  Execu- 
tive. Said  Secretary  Seward,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  our  minister  to 
England  (i  Messages  and  Documents,  1861-62,  page'  79)  : 

"  To  recognize  the  independence  of  a  new  state,  and  so  favor,  possi- 
bly determine,  its  admission  into  the  family  of  nations,  is  the  highest 
possible  exercise  of  sovereign  power,  because  it  affects  in  every  case  the 
welfare  of  two  nations,  and  often  the  peace  of  the  world." 


But  if  it  be  true  that  the  msurgents  in  Cuba  have  the  same  right  to 
procure  arms  and  supplies  under  the  present  condition  of  affairs,  as  they 
would  if  the  United  States  recognized  them  as  belligerents,  where  is  the 
vast  importance  attributed  to  this  recognition  ?  What  privileges  would 
they  thus  obtain  ?  Outside  of  a  certain  moral  advantage,  the  sole  theo- 
retical benefit  would  be  a  curtailment  of  the  rights  of  Spain.  As  it  is 
now,  the  insurgents  have  no  national  status,  and  Spain  is  not  prohibited 
from  coming  to  our  ports  and  arming  her  vessels,  and  she  may  fit  out 
military  expeditions  here,  or  take  any  steps  competent  to  her  in  normal 
times.  In  the  event  of  recognition  Spain  would  be  also  liable  under  our 
neutrality  statute.  That  is  one  advantage  which  would  accrue  to  Cuba 
in  consequence  of  belligerency.  But,  practically,  what  would  this  amount 
to  ?  Spain  is  not  engaged  in  fitting  out  expeditions  in  this  country. 
There  is  no  sympathy  for  her  here.  She  can  procure  no  men  to  enlist 
in  her  cause;  she  can  obtain  no  aid  and  comfort  in  America.     She  may, 


422 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


like  her  foes,  buy  supplies  and  arms  in  our  markets,  but  that  is  her  right 
in  any  event.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  but  little  benefit  can  follow 
even  effective  action  for  recognition. 

What  potency  accompanies  any  resolution  that  we  may  adopt  ?  We 
all  desire  to  see  Cuba  liberated,  but  how  can  she  achieve  her  independ- 
ence except  through  her  own  efforts  ?  If  our  government  were  not  care 
ful  in  the  enforcement  of  her  neutrality  laws,  perhaps  the  insurgent  cause 
might  advance  more  rapidly.  If  these  people  were  more  carefully  ad- 
vised there  would  not,  I  am  persuaded,  be  serious  difficulty  in  getting 
much-needed  ammunition  and  other  war  material,  but  expeditions  can- 
not be  fitted  out  here,  nor  can  men  enlist  for  hostile  service,  and  arm 
ships  in  our  waters  for  warlike  enterprise.  No  one  proposes  that  we 
shall  declare  war  against  Spain,  and  unless  we  do  so  the  excited  lan- 
guage daily  repeated  here  is  not  appropriate. 

Mr.  President,  our  wishes  are  for  Cuban  freedom,  but  can  we  accom- 
plish this  by  mere  naked  declaration  ?  Senators  have  condemned  Spain, 
and  have  criticized  her  policies  with  severity,  but  all  this  is  futile.  We 
should  appreciate  the  truth  that  we  cannot  peaceably,  or  with  due  re- 
spect for  international  obligations,  go  further  than  sympathetic  expres- 
sion. If  the  president  determines  to  announce  that  the  Cubans  in  revolt 
are  entitled  to  the  rights  of  war,  they  will  still  be  subject  to  sections 
5,283-5,286  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States.  This  would 
be  true  if  Cuban  independence  were  recognized  by  us,  and  must  remain 
true  while  war  lasts.  Our  declaration  of  neutrality  itself  implies  that  we 
will  vigorously  enforce  the  law  as  against  all  parties  to  the  contest.  We 
are  in  honor  bound  to  do  so.  It  is  well  to  keep  these  facts  before  us. 
All  should  remember  that  in  no  way  can  we  relieve  the  people  of  Cuba 
from  the  effect  of  our  neutrality  laws  unless  we  boldly  deny  Spain's  right, 
and  ourselves  take  charge  of  the  issue  and  declare  war. 

In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  the  senator  referred  to 
the  record  of  the  president,  December  8,  1885,  with  ref- 
erence to  the  Colombian  difficulty,  and  he  quoted  many 
passages  of  pertinent  and  instructive  history,  after  which 
he  proceeded : 

To  assert  here  by  resolution  that  the  Cuban  people  have  accomplished 
their  independence,  when  we  know  they  have  not  accomplished  it,  when 
we  know  they  are  endeavoring  to  accomplish  it,  when  we  know  they  are 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  423 

making  every  effort  to  attain  to  that  condition,  when  we  know  that  it  is 
an  unrealized  hope,  would  be  to  write  ourselves  down  as  anything  but 
reasonable  men. 

Certainly,  a  declaration  of  that  kind  would  not  have  any  satisfactory 
effect.  It  would  be  an  announcement  here  in  the  form  of  a  resolution 
of  that  which  we  should  know  is  untrue. 

Experiencing  none  but  the  kindest  sentiments  toward  Cuba,  I  will  not 
be  a  party  to  the  new  departure  favored  by  the  senator  from  Missouri 
(Mr.  Vest),  when  in  my  judgment  such  conduct  would  be  wholly  unpro- 
voked and  unwarranted.  A  concurrent  resolution,  by  whomsoever  of- 
fered, or  whatever  it  may  contain,  is  nothing  more  than  an  expression  of 
sympathy.  As  stated  by  the  senator  from  Missouri,  it  will  not,  and  as 
I  have  attempted  to  show,  by  its  own  force  it  cannot,  directly  accomplish 
anything  for  Cuba. 

A  senator  who  has  pressed  with  much  force  the  pending  independ- 
ence resolution,  said  that  we  might  as  well  abandon  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine if  we  do  not  recognize  Cuba;  but  if  that  doctrine  has  any  applica- 
tion to  Cuba  at  all,  it  would  seem  that  under  it  we  must  keep  our  hands 
off,  because,  as  I  have  already  said,  Mr.  Monroe's  words  are,  "  With 
the  existing  colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power  we  have  not 
interfered,  and  shall  not  interfere."  To  this  declaration  we  have  very 
lately  given  our  unqualified  support I  shall  not  vote  for  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  independence  of  Cuba,  first,  because  I  do  not  believe 
that  it  is  our  function,  without  Executive  participation,  to  recognize 
either  the  belligerency  or  independence  of  any  nation;  secondly,  because 
I  do  not  think  that  independence  has  been  achieved  within  the  rules 
mentioned,  or  at  all,  and  I  am  unwilling  to  declare  that  a  certain  condi- 
tion exists  when  I  know  to  the  contrary. 

The  appointment  of  a  man  of  the  character  and  at- 
tainments and  environments  of  General  Lee,  two 
months  after  Senator  White's  speech,  announces  that  the 
administration  is  still  anxious  and  making  inquiries, 
pursuing  as  it  may  the  lines  of  investigation  open  to  it, 
and  sensible  of  the  Cuban  crisis  that  is  industrial,  com- 
mercial, financial,  social,  military,  and  political. 

It  interests  many  though,  to  seek  to  find  an  easy  way 
of  avoiding  the  realization  of  the  critical  state  of  the 


424  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Island,  for  they  do  not  care  to  take  full  cognizance  of 
the  fact  that  a  people  are  perishing,  a  once  flourishing 
civilization  on  American  soil,  in  the  course  of  blotting 
itself  out.  The  people  of  Cuba  are  not  in  danger  of 
being  conquered.  The  conditions  forbid  that,  but  they 
may  fall  into  a  poverty  so  depressing,  and  be  ruined  so 
completely,  that  a  state  of  semi-barbarism  may  ensue. 

The  Spaniards  steadily  contend  that  the  revolution 
in  Cuba  will  cause  a  second  and  greater  San  Domingo, 
and  point  out  the  prominence  of  the  Maceos  as  a 
proof  that  the  insurrection  is  a  negro  revolt.  They 
misrepresent  the  case,  but  it  is  true  that  the  wealth  that 
has  accumulated  in  the  Island  shall  pass  away  in  fire, 
and  that  a  generation  may  be  required  in  restoration. 

The  Cubans  and  Spaniards,  and  all  the  enlightened 
people  of  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  concerned  to 
know  what  we,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  may 
have  it  in  our  hearts  and  hands  to  do. 

There  is  that  which  is  fortunate  in  the  appointment 
of  General  Lee  to  be  consul-general  at  Havana — and 
more,  the  personal  representative  of  the  president 
and  cabinet.  He  is  not  a  stranger  in  Cuba,  having  vis- 
ited Havana  when  governor  of  Virginia.  There  is  one 
very  important  aspect  in  which  it  is  well  that  he  is  a 
Southern  man,  and  it  is  not  that  having  once  taken  up 
arms  against  the  country  of  which  he  is  now  the  repre- 
sentative, he  may  not  be  expected  to  regard  rebels  with 
sentimental  severity,  even  if  there  is  something  in  that ; 
but  it  is  that  as  a  man,  raised  in  the  presence  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  influences  of  African  slavery,  he  has  ex- 
pert knowledge  of  colored  people  and  their  relations  to 
the  whife  people,  and  what  he  says  of  the  relations  and 
influence  of  that  race  in  Cuba  will  have  weight. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  4^5 

No  man  of  greater  facilities,  to  judge  from  informa- 
tion and  inherent  understanding  of  racial  diversities, 
contentions  and  disposition,  could  be  found;  and  he  will 
be  able  to  testify  with  confidence  that  the  Cuban  re- 
volt is  not  a  negro  insurrection,  and  to  disabuse  the 
American  mind  on  that  subject. 

James  Creelman,  the  correspondent  who  denounced 
the  butchery  of  the  Chinese  by  victorious  Japanese  sol- 
diers at  the  taking  of  Port  Arthur,  sends  from  Havana 
lists  of  the  names  of  peaceable  men  who  have  been 
slaughtered  by  Spanish  soldiers  near  Havana,  and  says 
the  shock  which  cracked  the  massive  walls  of  the  palace 
was  "  the  first  answer  of  the  Cuban  nation  to  the  Span- 
ish campaign  of  massacre  of  unarmed,  peaceable  inhab- 
itants of  the  interior." 

The  report  of  wholesale  murder  is  made  upon  per- 
sonal investigation,  and  announced  with  the  opinion 
that  it  is  impossible  General  Weyler  could  be  informed, 
and  continues  :  "  Every  where  the  breadwinners  of  Cuba 
are  fleeing  in  terror  before  the  Spanish  columns,  and  the 
ranks  of  life  are  being  turned  into  ranks  of  death,  for  the 
Cuban  who  has  seen  his  honest  and  harmless  neighbors 
tied  up  and  shot  before  his  eyes,  in  order  that  some  of- 
ficer may  get  credit  for  a  battle,  takes  his  family  to  the 
nearest  town  or  city  for  safety,  and  then  goes  out  to 
strike  a  manly  blow  for  his  country." 

The  witnesses  of  butcheries  shrink  and  grow  silent, 
and  are  dumb  with  fright  when  questioned,  and  if  these 
stories  are  true,  there  never  was  a  land  of  serpents  and 
wild  beasts  and  savages  where  death  ever  lurked  so 
near. 

While  the  economic  questions  are  being  considered, 
Mr.  Creelman  says:  "The  insurgents  are  turning  the 


426  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Island  into  a  waste  of  ashes,  and  t-he  Spanish  soldiers 
are  slaughtering  non-combatants."  A  responsible 
planter  tells  that  within  three  weeks  several  laboring 
men  have  been  shot  by  the  roadside  on  his  premises. 
This  man  is  responsible  in  the  sense  of  reliability — not 
that  he  would  dare  to  tell  the  truth  in  public,  for  he 
would  sacrifice  his  life  if  he  did.  The  highway  east  of 
Havana  is  crowded  with  fugitives  reporting  murders — 
fourteen  inoffensive  men  tied  up  and  shot  the  other  day 
near  Guanabacoa  and  "  the  sentries  on  limits  of  the  towns 
refuse  to  allow  any  outsider  to  go  where  he  is  likely  to 
witness  the  work  of  the  firing  squad.  Guanabacoa  is 
packed  with  bewildered  and  half-starved  country  peo- 
ple.    Many  of  them  sleep  in  the  streets." 

The  personal  investigations  of  Mr.  Creelman  were  as 
to  "  the  following  peaceable  white  men  who  were  shot 
without  trial  at  Campo  Florida,  near  Havana,  on  the 
afternoon  of  April  3d." 

Margarito  Zarzas,  aged  twenty-four  years,  single,  blacksmith  and  car- 
penter. 

Ramon  Castellanos,  single,  aged  thirty-three  years,  poultry  dealer. 

Joaquin  Medina,  aged  forty-five  years,  married,  farmer. 

Camilo  Cejas,  aged  twenty-five  years,  single,  fisherman. 

Jose  I.  Cejas,  aged  twenty-eight  years,  married,  fisherman. 

Manuel  Martinez,  aged  thirty-eight  years,  married,  farmer. 

Domingo  Lugones,  aged  thirty-five,  single,  native  of  Montevideo,  Uru- 
guay. 

Jesus  Ochoa  Rodriguez,  twenty-five  years,  single,  blacksmith. 

These  names  are  not  given  on  the  evidence  of  one 
man,  for  they  had  been  communicated  to  the  country 
by  the  United  Press. 

Between  April  13  and  22,  says  Mr.  Creelman,  and  he 
is  the  first  to  state  the  fact,  the  following  peaceful  in- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  42/ 

habitants  were  taken  from  their  homes  and  shot  on  the 
Fierabras  road  between  Campo  Florida  and  Minas  : 

Margarito  Verole,  a  farmer's  boy,  fourteen  years  old. 
M.  V.  Collina,  aged  forty-fpur  years,  married,  merchant. 
J.  Caballin,  aged  forty-five  years,  married,  merchant. 
Benigno  Galloso,  aged  forty  years,  single,  farmer. 
A  son  of  Galloso,  aged  twenty-five  years,  single. 
Eduardo  Sardenes,  aged  thirty-seven,  married. 
Cruz  Ferrer,  forty-two  years,  married,  farmer. 
Inocente  Rabell,  forty  years,  married,  cheesemaker. 
Florencio  Rabell,  thirty-six  years,  single,  cheesemaker. 
Basilio  E.  Rubio,  forty-six  years,  married,  farmer. 
Eleno  Guerra,  thirty-three  years,  married,  farmer. 

The  victims  were  all  white.  Their  bodies  were 
thrown  into  a  huge  sugar  boiler,  which  lies  half  buried 
on   the   roadside    on    the   land  owned  by  J.   Cabrera. 

Here  is  a  list  of  white  men  shot  without  trial  in  the 
same  neighborhood,  opposite  the  Jesus  Maria  grocery- 
store,  on  the  Arango  estate. 

Martin  Sosa,  single,  farmer. 

Andres  Guillama,  and  his  assistant,  both  married  and  farmers. 
Francisco  Diaz  and  son,  farmers. 
Leonardo  Llerena,  farmer. 
Luz  Gutierrez  and  son,  farmers. 
Caridad  Reyes,  farmer. 
Francisco  Ferrer,  farmer. 
Benito  Bueno,  farmer, 

Julio  Hernandez,  father  of  twelve  children,  farmer. 
Abelardo  Cartaya,  farmer,  and  three  others  whose  names  I  cannot  as- 
certain at  present  moment. 

Most  of  these  were  taken  from  their  ploughs.  The 
following  non-combatants  were  also  shot  without  trial, 
and  thrust  into  the  sugar  boiler  on  the  highway  in 
Minas  : 


428  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Mr.  Macho,  a  mulatto,  seventy-one  years  old. 

Timoteo  Ceferino,  son  of  the  foregoing,  aged  seventeen. 

Castellanos,  thirty-five  years,   married,  arrested  on  his  way  to  Havana 

market. 
Matias  Darias,  arrested  on  his  way  home  after  selling  his  goods. 
Juan  Machina,  married,  farmer. 

This  is  indeed  a  chapter  from  another  "  Book  of 
Blood,"  and  this  terrible  story  continues  with  the  state- 
ment of  an  eye  witness  of  the  shooting  of  the  eight  men 
whose  names  are  in  the  first  list  above  ;  "  these  eight 
men  were  arrested  on  April  ist  and  2d  by  Lieut.  Sequi, 
assisted  by  two  soldiers  and  a  municipal  guard,  who 
has  since  been  hanged  by  the  insurgents.  They  were 
all  innocent,  hard-working  people.  I  saw  the  soldiers 
tie  their  arms  and  take  them  to  the  police  station. 
Margarito  Zarzas,  who  was  arrested  just  after  he  had 
completed  a  coffin  for  a  woman,  was  dragged  to  the 
station  with  a  rope  around  his  neck.  I  was  told  that 
the  prisoners  were  beaten,  but  I  did  not  see  that. 
Next  day  the  nine  prisoners  were  marched  to  a  small 
fort  made  of  loose  bricks  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  rail- 
way track.  I  heard  that  they  were  to  be  put  on  a  train 
at  1.30  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  carried  to  Havana, 
and  I  went  to  the  track  to  see  my  neighbors  depart. 
As  I  approached  the  railway  I  saw  Lieut.  Sequi  and  two 
soldiers  hurrying  towards  the  little  fort  on  horseback. 

"  When  I  advanced  I  could  see  a  double  rank  of  Span- 
ish soldiers  of  the  Princesa  Battalion,  stretching  from 
the  foot  of  the  hill  on  which  the  fort  stands  across  the 
track  to  a  small  gully  about  seven  feet  deep.  Beyond 
the  gully  is  a  large  cedar  tree,  and  between  them  was 
a  freshly-dug  trench.  It  made  my  blood  run  cold.  I 
knew  what   the  trench  was  for.     To  the  right  of  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  42g 

gully  was  a  line  of  soldiers.  Presently  I  saw  the  two 
Cejas  brothers  leave  the  fort  surrounded  by  soldiers. 
They  were  taken  across  the  track  between  the  double 
ranks  and  down  into  the  gully  out  of  my  sight.  Then 
I  heard  a  volley  fired  in  the  gully.  I  ran  home  and  or- 
dered my  wife  to  conceal  the  children  and  lock  the 
doors  of  my  house. 

"The  screaming  of  the  prisoners  in  the  fort,  who  had 
heard  the  volley,  induced  me  to  approach  the  track 
again.  This  time  I  saw  Domingo  Lugonez  and  Mar- 
garito  Zarzas  brought  down  the  hill.  They  were  tied 
together.  Lugonez  was  crying.  I  could  hear  him 
scream  again  and  again  :  *  For  the  sake  of  your  own 
mothers  don't  kill  me !  Have  pity  on  me !  Oh,  my 
good  mother,  my  poor  mother !  For  God's  sake  don't 
kill  me ! ' 

"The  prisoners  were  driven  into  the  gully,  and  again  I 
heard  a  volley.  After  that  I  stayed  with  my  children. 
We  could  hear  other  volleys  as  each  of  the  prisoners 
was  taken  out  and  shot.  Then  the  train  arrived  from 
Havana,  and  just  before  it  reached  the  village  I  heard 
two  quick  volleys  and  two  single  shots.  That  day  I 
left  the  place  with  my  family.  The  troops  were  killing 
all  my  neighbors. 

"The  orders  are  given  by  the  military  commandant  of 
Minas,  whose  name  is  Narciso  de  Fondesviela.  This  is 
a  plain  statement  of  the  facts.  On  the  next  day  the 
official  reports  declared  that  the  Spanish  troops  at 
Campo  Florida  had  ambushed  a  body  of  insurgents  and 
killed  ten  of  them  without  losing  a  man. 

"  Four  days  ago  the  soldiers  shot  Jose  Flores,  a  mar- 
ried farmer,  and  Feliciano  Sosa,  married,  carpenter, 
thirty-eight  years  old,  and  also*  threw  their  bodies  into 


430  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  boiler.  Since  then  the  troops  have  been  forced  to  dig 
a  trench  for  the  corpses,  and  the  odor  from  the  decaying 
bodies  in  the  boiler  prevents  them  from  going  near  it. 

"  I  have  confined  my  despatch  to  one  little  farming 
district  close  to  Havana.  The  same  stories  reach  me 
from  all  parts  of  the  Island.  But  I  have  set  down 
nothing  without  investigation.  Imagine  the  scenes  in 
the  interior.  No  wonder  foreign  correspondents  are 
not  allowed  to  accompany  the  Spanish  columns  and 
are  nearly  all  bottled  up  in  Havana. 

"  I  take  no  sides  in  this  war,  and  have  no  wish  to  harm 
the  Spanish  name.  Many  of  the  royal  officers  are  men 
of  fine  character.  But  it  is  time  to  let  the  world  know 
that  America  has  an  Armenia  almost  within  sight  of 
her  shores." 

While  this  is  under  my  eye,  I  receive  a  letter  from 
Havana,  written  by  a  man  whose  name  would  be 
known  to  many  people  in  the  United  States  as  carrying 
with  it  the  certainty  of  truthfulness — and  he  is  not  a 
Cuban  or  Cuban  sympathizer — mentioning  in  a  casual 
business  way,  news  from  a  plantation  in  the  vicinity  of 
Havana,  that  several  of  the  servants  had  been  shot — 
among  them  three  elderly  black  men,  when  going  un- 
armed about  the  fields  attending  to  their  accustomed 
work.  This  communication,  of  which  no  correspondent 
in  Havana  has  the  least  knowledge — it  is  from  a  source 
entirely  independent  and  impartial — and  is  confirmation 
unimpeachable. 

Here  is  the  bloodiest  picture  that  has  been  painted, 
and  that  there  is  awful  truth  to  life  and  death  in  it  can 
be  read  in  the  lines  and  between  them,  and  this  sort  of 
thing  has  filled  the  Cubans  who  are  not  frightened  into 
abjectness,  with  fighting  fire,  and  they  are  giving  up  all 


HER   STRUGGLES  EOR   LIBERTY.  43  I 

hope  of  preserving  their  homes,  and  are  rushing  into  the 
war.  The  report  is  that  eight  hundred  men  have  within 
a  month,  in  the  country  in  the  Havana  province  and 
nigh  the  city,  "gone  to  the  insurgent  army  from  a  dis- 
tance fifteen  miles  in  circumference,"  and  it  is  added, 
"  most  of  them  were  armed,  but  few  joined  the  patriot 
forces  with  nothing  but  heavy  sticks." 

It  is  stated  that,  in  the  first  week  of  May,  there  ap- 
peared in  New  York  a  number  of  Havana  business  men 
seeking  to  deal  with  the  Cuban  junta  to  secure  a  pause 
in  hostilities,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  whether  an  under- 
standing could  be  reached  that  might  be  enlarged  to 
find  the  basis  of  an  accommodation.  This  is  not  im- 
probable, for  disasters  of  the  most  serious  nature  are 
impending  over  Havana.  The  crisis  must  be  near,  and 
the  rigors  of  military  administration  will  be  vainly  ex- 
ercised, for  the  laws  of  political  economy  are  not  sub- 
ject to  the  orders  of  captain-generals. 

The  Cubans  in  New  York  warmly  rejected  all  over- 
tures, saying  there  was  nothing  but  the  recognition  of 
the  independence  of  Cuba  that  would  make  peace.  It 
was  claimed  the  Cubans  were  near  winning  the  fight,  and 
that  the  Spaniards  had  never  kept  faithfully  their  en- 
gagements. There  is  repeated  the  sharp  summary  of 
the  causes  of  Spain  against  Cuba,  drawn  by  Seftor 
Enrique  Jose  Verona,  ex-deputy  of  the  Spanish  Cortes. 

"  Spain  denies  to  the  Cubans  all  effective  powers  in 
their  own  country. 

"Spain  condemns  the  Cubans  to  a  political  inferiority 
in  the  land  where  they  were  born. 

"Spain  confiscates  the  product  of  the  Cubans'  labor, 
without  giving  them  in  return  either  safety,  prosperity, 
or  education. 

C— 25 


432  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  Spain  has  shown  itself  utterly  incapable  of  govern- 
ing Cuba. 

"  Spain  exploits,  impoverishes,  and  demoralizes  Cuba." 
And  the  business  men  of  Havana  are  met  with  this 
passage  of  a  revolutionary  manifesto: 

The  cause  of  the  ruin  of  Cuba,  despite  her  sugar  output  of  one  mil- 
lion tons  and  her  vast  tobacco  fields,  can  be  easily  explained.  Cuba 
does  not  capitalize,  and  it  does  not  capitalize  because  the  fiscal  regime 
imposed  upon  the  country  does  not  permit  it.  The  money  derived  from 
its  large  exportations  does  not  return  either  in  the  form  of  importa- 
tions of  goods  or  of  cash.  It  remains  abroad  to  pay  the  interest  of  its 
huge  debt,  to  cover  the  incessant  remittances  of  funds  by  the  Spaniards 
who  hasten  to  send  their  earnings  out  of  the  country,  to  pay  from  our 
treasury  the  pensioners  who  live  in  Spain,  and  to  meet  the  drafts  for- 
warded by  every  mail  from  Cuba  by  the  Spaniards  as  a  tribute  to  their 
political  patrons  in  the  metropolis,  and  to  help  their  families. 

Cuba  pays  $2,192,795  in  pensions  to  those  on  the  retired  list  and  to 
superannuated  officials  not  in  service.     Most  of  the  money  is  exported. 

Also  with  this  often  repeated  and  undisputed  disposi- 
tion of  Cuba  revenue: 

Interest  on  part  of  Spanish  national  debt $10,500,000 

Spanish  army  and  navy. 6,900,000 

Government  of  the  Island   4,036,000 

Pensions,   Monts-de-Piete,  etc 2,000,000 

Justice 995,000 

Public  treasury 708,000 

Public  works 588,000 

Public   instruction  (superior) ^. 182,200 

Common  schools  ! o 


$25,909,200 


^  Of  this,  it  is  the  Cuban  claim,  sixty-six  per  cent,  of 
the  taxes  in  the  Island  goes  to  the  peninsula,  as  plainly 
as  if  sent  off  in  treasure  ships  in  the  old  style. 


DESTRUCTION  OF  RAILROAD  TRAIN  BY  DYNAMITE 


T^        OF  THE 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  435 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  Spanish  "  reforms,  " 
that  were  withheld,  as  we  are  often  told,  because  the 
insurrection  broke  forth,  were  unreal — did  not  change 
the  fact  that  the  only  actual  authority  was  adjusted  to 
remain  in  Spain — no  true  home  rule  even  attempted, 
and  the  policy  of  massacre  is  carried  out  while  business 
men  confer — the  impossibility  of  advancing  peace  meas- 
ures is  demonstrated,  and  the  horrors  of  the  situation 
appear  the  more  vividly. 

The  dreadful  narratives  thrust  upon  our  attention 
emphasize  the  deadly  nature  of  the  Cuban  crisis.  There 
is  a  culmination  of  horrors.  The  wretched  fugitives  from 
the  bloody  fields  and  country  houses  in  ashes  are  hasten- 
ing wildly  to  Havana  and  other  cities  and  the  towns,  flee- 
ing from  murder  and  famine,  to  sleep  and  wander  in  the 
unclean  streets,  to  meet  the  pestilence.  How  the  car- 
nival of  blood,  the  massacres  that  are  called  combats, 
and  the  exterminating  assassinations  are  to  be  prevented, 
in  any  way  moderated,  or  even  their  increase  checked, 
is  a  question  as  difficult  as  the  situation  is  deplorable. 
The  president  is  called  upon  to  take  action.  It  is  not 
his  duty  to  declare  war,  with  Congress  in  session,  but 
he  must  have  enough  evidence  before  him  to  authorize 
the  most  serious  representations  by  our  consul-general 
to  the  captain-general  of  Cuba,  and  by  the  minister  to 
Spain  to  the  government  of  that  country  ;  and  it  will 
not  be  sufficient  for  the  Spanish  general  in  command  to 
discredit  all  the  news  of  an  unofficial  character  that 
comes  from  Cuba,  or  for  the  Spanish  government  to 
refuse  to  listen  to  offers  of  good  offices  from  the  United 
States,  and  to  go  on  speaking  of  their  inflexible  pride 
and  indomitable  purpose. 

We  know  enough   about  that.     We  know  well   that 


436  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

more  than  forty  years  ago  Spain  was  hard-pressed  in 
the  course  of  the  Ostend  conference  poHcy,  and  that 
it  did  become  her  dignity  then  to  decline  to  accept 
our  suggestions.  We  are  aware  that  it  was  the  right  of 
Spain  to  refuse  to  sell  her  last  great  American  posses- 
sion, and  she  could  do  that  again  without  justly  incurring 
our  ill  will  We  are  aware  of  the  false  representations 
that  were  made  of  the  Lopez  and  the  Virginius  affairs 
by  the  filibusters  were  countenanced  in  this  country 
— but  that  was  chiefly  on  account  of  the  inhumanity, 
the  savagry  of  the  shooting  of  prisoners  by  scores — 
but  we  remember  General  Prim,  when  ruler  of  Spain, 
treated  representations  from  our  government  that  his 
country  might  advantageously  give  up  Cuba,  with 
calm  consideration,  no  display  whatever  of  indignation. 
We  know  how  frantic  the  Spaniards  grow  at  the  thought 
that  we  want  Cuba,  and  with  what  insanity  they  assert 
that  she  is  their  own  aff"air,  and  they  will  never  tol- 
erate any  interference. 

We  beg  pardon,  but  maybe  they  will !  It  is  possible 
that  they  must.  Cuba  is  an  American  island — the 
American  island — and  we,  the  United  States  are  the 
great  American  power,  and  have  some  rights  that  are 
imperial,  and  we  can  assert  them  in  a  spirit  of  justice, 
and  a  potentiality  that  there  is  no  power  on  the 
earth  that  can  hinder.  We  know  it  is  the  most  familiar 
thing  outside  our  country  in  the  history  of  this  hemis- 
phere— Spain  has  parted  with  her  enormous  American 
colonies,  from  Chili  to  California,  and  we  speak  within 
bounds  in  saying,  because  she  was  incapable  of  fair  play 
to  colonists.  She  would  rule  them  as  she  has  ruled 
Cuba,  and  has  therefore  lost  the  position  in  the  world 
that  her  American  possessions  would  have  given  her, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY. 


437 


through  her  implacable  injustice,  her  irrational  and  un- 
appeasable greed.  We  know,  too,  that  Spain  gave  up 
the  Floridas  to  us,  and  that  she  once  was  the  proprietor 
of  all  the  ample  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  they 
are  all  gone  from  her  but  Cuba,  standing  a  sorrowful, 
reproachful,  solitary  sentinel,  the  sombre,needless  guard- 
ian of  the  gate  of  the  lost  empire.  Now,  shall  she  cling 
with  defiant  desperation  forever  to  this  final  fragment  of 
what  was  the  Spanish  world,  and  is  now  a  mournful  mon- 
ument of  misgovernment  and  misfortune,  and  assert  the 
right  to  murder  a  people  who  refuse  to  be  the  servants 
of  her  servants,  and  jeer  at  us  that  we  have  no  right  of 
humanity  to  protest — we  the  nearest  neighbor  and  pre- 
dominant power — no  privilege  of  Christianity  or  chiv- 
alry, to  see  that  a  race  born  on  American  soil  shall 
not  perish  from  the  earth  at  the  hands  of  carpet-baggers 
from  over  the  sea,  who  refuse  all  forms  of  self  govern- 
ment, to  those  they  have  oppressed  for  generations  ? 
Cannot  some  Spanish  statesman  rise  with  the  will  and 
the  force  to  save  his  own  country  from  the  ruin  that  is 
impending  for  Spain  ?  Shall  she  commit  suicide  because 
Cuba  is  not  to  be  hers  again  ? 

Spain,  is  stumbling  down  a  dark  and  bloody  road  to 
her  doom,  and  she  should  find  in  herself  the  manliness 
and  wisdom  to  preserve  her  from  the  inevitable  conse- 
quences of  a  relentless  resolution  to  avenge  herself  upon 
her  children,  because  they  resent  her  stupid  and  woeful 
tyranny,  and  resist,  torch  and  knife  in  hand,  the  policy 
of  massacre  that  threatens  to  be  the  most  hideous  chap- 
ter of  human  crime  and  misery.  There  is  frivolous  talk 
in  Spain  of  war  with  the  United  States.  We  would  not 
be  boastful  of  ability  to  assert  ourselves,  because  Spain 
is  a    weak  power ;    but  we    may,    in  a  war  becoming 


438  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

barbarous,  interpose  with  the  preservation  of  our  own 
equipoise,  to  command  the  peace  ;  and  we  may  close 
the  crisis  in  peace,  if  we  rise  to  the  occasion,  ready  with 
the  sword  and  the  supreme  moral  force  that  has  accepted 
the  challenge  of  fate  and  the  duty  of  destiny.  Thus 
we  shall  impose  no  calamity  on  any  one,  but  give  relief 
to  Spain,  freedom  to  Cuba,  and  dignity  and  glory  to 
ourselves.  We  are  the  true  and  competent  America. 
We  need  shed  no  drop  of  blood — for  the  price  of  peace 
and  honor,  for  us  and  for  all  in  this  crisis,  is  the  courage 
that  accepts  the  hazard  of  taking  the  fateful  responsi- 
bility with  absolute  resolution. 

THE    CURRENCY    CRISIS. 

There  is  a  currency  crisis  impending  in  Cuba.  The 
money  measure  thus  far  has  been  the  ounce  of  gold. 
The  Spanish  gold  is  not  so  fine  as  the  American,  and, 
therefore,  United  States  gold  there  commands  a  pre- 
mium over  Spanish  gold — hence  the  humor  of  buying  a 
small  article,  paying  in  a  half  eagle,  and  getting  a  Span- 
ish five  dollar  gold-piece  and  some  silver  change  in  re- 
turn. Spanish  gold  is  at  a  premium  over  silver,  and 
there  has  been  no  paper  money.  The  Spanish  five  dollar 
piece  is  the  current  measure.  A  bill  in  a  shop  or  hotel 
is  settled  in  Spanish  gold,  and  if  paid  in  American  gold 
there  is  something  coming  on  every  dollar,  and  if  the 
payment  is  in  silver,  a  number  of  dollars,  equal  to 
the  sum  named  in  the  bill  does  not  go  until  the 
premium  is  added.  The  ounce  pf  gold,  900  fine,  may 
be  styled  the  unit,  and  there  are  close  calculations  in 
paying  bills.  There  has  not  been  a  scrap  of  paper 
money  in  circulation  in  Cuba,  but  there  is  to  be  an 
issue  of  notes,  and  the  public  are  apprehensive,  and  not 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  439 

at  all  pleased  with  the  probability,  as  they  remember 
that  the  paper  floated  during  the  last  war  was  not  re- 
deemed at  par,  and  that  its  fluctuations  in  value  were 
exceedingly  annoying.  In  the  United  States,  where  a 
dollar  is  one  hundred  cents,  and  where  paper,  gold,  sil- 
ver, nickel  and  copper  money  are  absolutely  on  a  par, 
many  people  do  not  realize  the  discomfort  of  a  fluctu- 
ating currency.  The  present  condition  of  money  there 
should  particularly  interest  the  free  silver  advocates  of 
the  United  States. 

Nobody  can  tell  now  at  what  rate  the  paper  money 
to  be  issued  will  pass,  but  it  certainly  will  not  be  the 
same  as  either  gold  or  silver. 

A  Havana  correspondent  gives  this  interesting  article  : 
"The  monetary  unit  here  is  the  peso,  which  takes  the 
form  of  a  large  silver  piece,  about  the  same  size  as  an 
American  dollar.  It  is  divided  into  five  pesetas,  each 
presumably  worth  twenty  centavos,  or  cents.  The  real 
— worth  ten  centavos — is  the  smallest  silver  piece  in 
circulation,  as  the  half  reals  have  been  withdrawn.  The 
centavos  are  big,  clumsy,  copper  coins,  much  larger  than 
American  cents.  The  smallest  gold  coin  now  issued 
by  the  Spanish  mint  is  the  centen — on  which  is  stamped 
the  announcement  that  it  is  worth  twenty-five  pesetas, 
five  pesos.  As  gold  is  at  a  premium  here  and  silver  at 
a  discount,  the  values  do  not  agree.  The  centen  is 
worth  from  $6  to  $6.io  in  silver,  and  as  much  as  $6.43 
in  copper  money,  but  no  ordinary  man  would  think  of 
getting  change  in  copper,  as  he  would  have  to  hire  a 
pack  mule  to  take  it  home,  and  then  he  would  have  to 
get  rid  of  it  in  driblets,  as  cabmen  object  to  taking 
twenty  cents  in  copper,  and  small  merchants  do  like- 
wise, preferring  silver  and  insisting  upon  getting  it. 


440  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  The  gold  centen  has  a  premium  of  six  per  cent.,  and 
the  coin  passes  for  $5.30  everywhere.  Ten  centens  are 
always  $53  for  the  purchase  of  articles  in  local  busi- 
ness houses,  though  importing  merchants  pay  for  their 
goods  abroad  without  getting  a  premium.  All  large 
bills  are  payable  in  gold,  and  the  hotels  and  restaur- 
ants always  specify  that  the  prices  given  for  food 
and  drinks  are  in  gold.  The  fact  is  that  in  paying  for 
food  and  drinks  in  cash,  silver  is  taken  ;  if  the  bill  is 
paid  at  the  end  of  the  week  the  guest  loses  money. 
For  convenience,  merchants  count  the  value  of  the 
centen  as  $6  in  silver;  that  is  if  you  see  an  article  in  a 
shop  window  marked  $2.50  gold,  that  means  that  you 
pay  on  the  basis  of  $6  silver  for  the  centen. 

"The  small  shops  get  very  little  gold.  Their  prices 
are  for  silver,  but  when  they  pay  the  wholesaler  they 
must  get  gold.  The  result  is  exchange  offices  all  over 
the  city — dozens  of  them  around  the  markets  and  main 
centres  of  trade.  To  these  Casas  de  Cambio  men  go 
to  have  their  centens  turned  into  silver.  The  prices  of 
the  day  are  usually  posted  on  the  outside,  and  some- 
times there  is  a  difference  of  a  cent  or  two  between 
neighboring  places.  In  the  last  month  the  price  has 
ranged  from  $6.04  to  $6.08,  varying  every  day,  accord- 
ing to  the  demand.  Money  brokers  all  anno,unced 
that  they  will  pay  more  for  large  quantities  of  centens. 

"  Naturally,  the  chief  sufferer  is  the  laborer,  who  is 
paid  in  silver,  and  who  loses  all  the  way  through  the 
transaction.  Prices  of  small  things  are  extraordinarily 
high,  even  considering  the  small  value  of  the  money. 
For  instance,  Rocquefort  cheese  brings  80  centavos  a 
pound,  American  soda  crackers  45  centavos  a  pound 
box,   American  caramels,   cheapest  grade,  one  peso  a 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  44 1 

pound  ;  draught  beer  ten  centavos  a  glass,  American, 
German,  or  English  beer  or  ale,  35  to  40  cents  a  bottle, 
and  so  on  all  the  way  through.  Washing  is  a  very 
expensive  item  in  a  hot  climate,  where  constant  changes 
of  linen  are  necessary.  The  hotel  laundries  charge  25 
centavos  for  shirts  and  nightshirts,  ten  cents  for  cuffs, 
and  five  for  collars. 

"Money  was  never  so  scarce  in  Havana  as  it  is  to-day, 
and  yet  the  capital  suffers  less  in  proportion  than  any 
other  point  on  the  Island.  One  effect  of  the  war  has 
been  to  concentrate  the  population  almost  entirely  in 
the  larger  cities;  whole  hamlets  have  been  deserted 
and  laid  in  ruins  by  one  side  or  the  other  for  fear  that 
the  enemy  would  utilize  the  houses ;  rich  men  have 
become  poor  and  homeless,  workmen  have  been  sud- 
denly deprived  of  all  means  of  earning  a  livelihood; 
the  supply  of  provisions  has  been  cut  down  every- 
where, and  prices  of  food  have  increased.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  residences  are  offered  to  let,  and  hand- 
some houses  could  be  obtained  now  for  a  mere  fraction 
of  the  money  they  formerly  brought.  Many  large 
business  houses  have  already  closed  their  doors,  and 
others  have  decreased  their  force  of  clerks,  reduced  the 
salaries  of  those  retained,  and  even  at  the  present  basis 
find  there  is  no  profit,  and  contemplate  giving  up  until 
times  are  better.  Outgoing  steamers  continue  crowded 
with  passengers,  while  those  that  arrive  are  practically 
empty.  Beggars  spring  up  at  every  step  in  the  streets, 
with  tales  of  starvation  and  misery — one  hears  of  nothing 
but  poverty." 

The  appearance  of  paper  money  will  be  regarded  in 
Havana  as  another  symptom  that  the  decline  of  the  old 
order  has  reached  the  falling  state. 


442  THE   STORY   OF  CUBA. 

The  cause  of  the  crisis  in  Cuba,  deeper  even  than  the 
antiquated  economy  that  discriminates  against  natives 
in  their  own  country,  or  the  demonstrably  unjust  taxa- 
tion— the  corrupt  intolerance  by  the  foreign  office-hold- 
ing class,  and  all  the  list  of  vindictive  discrimination 
by  the  peninsular  powers  against  the  producers  of  the 
Island,  is  displayed  in  a  striking  characterization  of  the 
contending  races,  by  A.  Gallenger,  in  his  work,  "  The 
Pearl  of  the  Antilles,"  published  in  London  in  1873. 
Gallenger  says  : 

The  real  bane  of  social  life  in  Havana  lies  in  the  deep-seated  and 
hardly  smothered  animosity  of  race,  one  and  the  same  race,  yet  irrecon- 
cilably divided  against  itself.  There  is  no  hatred  in  the  world  to  be 
compared  to  that  of  the  Cuban  for  Spain,  and  everything  Spanish. 
The  Creole  conceives  that  he  alone  is  entitled  to  breathe  the  balmy  air 
of  his  tropical  Island,  and  plainly  intimates  that  he  longs  for  the  day 
in  which  he  shall  be  rid  of  the  Spanish,  and  of  every  other  alien  in- 
truder coming  here  to  suck  the  very  life-blood  from  his  veins.  The 
peninsular  or  native  Spaniard,  who,  in  order  to  make  things  as  he  wishes, 
thinks  that  it  is  enough  for  him  to  declare  that  they  are  so,  never  men- 
tions Cuba  without  calling  it  "this  emphatically  Spanish  Island."  He 
flatters  himself  that  he  has  crushed  the  Creole,  and  affects  to  ignore  him. 
The  worst  is,  that  to  a  stranger's  eye  the  split  is  nowhere  apparent;  the 
line  of  demarcation  is  not  visibly  drawn.  The  Guelph  and  Ghibelline 
go  past  with  no  outward  distinction,  showing  no  symptom  of  the  enmity 
which  may  at  every  moment  array  them  in  hostile  camps.  There  is  no 
open  insurrection  within  more  than  100  miles  of  Havana;  there  has  been 
no  serious  disturbance  in  the  town  since  the  bloody  execution  of  March, 
1 87 1.  But  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  plot  and  intrigue  fatal  to  all  loyal, 
social,  and  even  domestic,  intercourse;  a  depth  of  simulation  and  dis- 
simulation, of  spoken  and  acted  lies,  not  to  be  fathomed  by  a  stranger 
on  a  mere  superficial  survey.  The  Peninsular  is  sure  of  the  day;  the 
Cuban  is  confident  of  the  morrow.  The  Spaniard  relies  on  brute  strength; 
the  Cuban  puts  his  trust  in  superior  intelligence.  Between  the  insur- 
gent bands  in  the  fields,  and  their  patriot  associates  in  Havana,  there  is 
incessant,  and  by  no  means  unenterprising,  communication.  The  un- 
derground war  is  going  on  in  every  street,  and  almost  in  every  house,  in 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  443 

this  city.  The  Spaniard  fancies  he  can  afford  to  treat  the  Creole  with 
ineffable  disdain.  He  taunts  him  with  cowardice  and  unthrift.  He  looks 
upon  him  as  a  degenerate  being,  incapable  of  overt  action,  of  manly- 
resolution,  and,  perhaps,  he  is  safe  enough  in  Havana  itself.  But  the 
Cuban  bides  his  time.  He  reckons  on  the  chapter  of  accidents,  on  the 
chronic  disorders  of  the  mother-country,  on  the  sympathies  of  the  Amer- 
ican Union,  of  Mexico,  of  the  Central  and  South  American  republics, 
where  the  name  of  Spain  is  as  heartily  execrated  as  in  the  camp  of  Ces- 
pedes  himself;  and,  above  all  things,  on  the  deluge  that  must  needs  ensue 
upon  any  attempt  at  the  solution  of  the  fatal  slavery  question.  The 
Creole  of  the  city  is  certainly  a  weakly,  rickety,  frivolous  creature,  dis- 
tinguishable by  his  long,  scraggy  neck  and  thin,  fluted  legs,  addicted  to 
indolent  habits  and  enervating  pleasures,  trained  by  long  schooling  to 
abject  submission,  destitute  of  all  energy;  but  there  is,  as  he  knows, 
better  stuff  among  his  brethren  of  the  rural  population.  The  Cuban 
travels  and  learns,  and  throughout  the  Island  education  is  more  gener- 
ally spread  than  among  the  ruling  race,  especially  among  the  lower 
classes  of  prejudiced  and  bigoted  peninsular  immigrants.  The  Spanish 
settlers  own  very  nearly  the  mass  of  the  landed  property,  and  of  the 
movable  wealth  of  the  country:  they  have  the  lion's  share  of  the  trade 
of  Havana  in  their  hands,  partly  in  consequence  of  their  superior  thrift 
and  activity,  but  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  privileges  and  monop- 
olies awarded  to  them  by  a  partial,  grasping,  and  unscrupulous  adminis- 
tration. The  fortune  accumulated  by  the  peninsular-  father  not  infre- 
quently goes  to  wreck  and  ruin  in  the  hands  of  his  improvident  creole 
progeny.  Still,  the  base  of  the  peninsular  prosperity,  both  agricultural 
and  commercial,  rests  on  slavery;  and  the  creole  thinks,  not  unreason- 
ably, that  with  the  abolition  of  slave-labor  a  new  balance  of  fortune  will 
have  to  be  established,  in  which  all  the  chances  will  be  in  his  own 
favor. 

It  is  remarkable  that  at  the  time  this  was  pubHshed 
(1873)  slavery  had  already  passed  away,  though  the 
formal  abolition  of  the  institution  had  not  been  per- 
fected. The  Spanish  influence  exerted  by  Martinez 
Campos  was  for  ending  slavery,  and,  no  doubt,  the  an- 
ticipation was  that  the  free  blacks  would  prefer  the 
Spaniards   to   the  Creoles.      One   of   Captain  -  General 


444  ^^^   STORY   OF  CUBA. 

Weyler's  moves,  in  the  first  days  of  his  supreme  author- 
ity, was  to  invite  the  friendliness  of  the  black  people. 
The  black  rebels  are  among  the  bravest  of  the  fighters 
for  freedom,  and  the  disappointed  and  angry  Spaniards 
speak  of  the  "  negro  insurrection." 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  445 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    DESTINY    OF   CUBA. 

A  Personal  Word — Account  of  a  Mysterious  Missionary — Comparison  of 
Campos  and  Weyler — Spain  has  Lost  Cuba — The  Destiny  of  the 
Pearl  of  Islands  is  to  be  one  of  our  Stars — Gentlemen  are  Rebels — 
The  Volunteers  as  Business  Men — Cubans  Worthy  to  be  our  Fellow 
Citizens. 

The  destiny  of  Cuba  is  in  the  darkest  and  deepest 
doubt.  The  problems  to  be  solved,  under  afflictions 
the  most  distressing,  are  many  and  profound. 

A  personal  word  may  be  permitted,  as  I  have  to 
express  convictions  and  judgments,  and  it  is  but  fair  the 
reader  should  know  how  they  were  formed.  I  arrived 
in  Cuba  with,  perhaps,  the  average  American  informa- 
tion, opinions,  prejudices,  feelings,  impressions  of  vari- 
ous degrees  of  inaccuracy,  arising  from  imperfections 
in  the  sum  of  gathered  information. 

I  remembered  that  Columbus  discovered  Cuba,  and 
called  the  island  Juana,  believed  it  was  a  peninsula  jut- 
ting out  from  the  continent  of  Asia,  and  close  to 
Cathay  ;  that  he  found  a  childish  race  of  red-men,  who 
perished  in  slavery,  and  that  black  slaves  were  intro- 
duced;  that  Columbus  had  been  sent  home  in  chains 
from  Hispaniola,  and,  dying  poor,  his  remains  were 
transported  to  the  Indies  he  gave  to  the  world  ;  that 
Cuba  was  the  key  of  the  gulf  during  the  centuries  of 
Spanish  domination  on  the  shores  of  that  Mediterranean 
Sea  ;  that  in  this  century  the  Island  has  been  disturbed 


446  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

by  many  disastrous    troubles,    arising    from    the    total 
denial  to  her  people  of  self-government. 

Of  course,  I  had  shared  in  the  American  ambition  of 
possession,  in  the  conception  of  our  manifest  destiny, 
in  the  regretful  remembrance  of  the  tragedies  of  the 
shooting  of  Crittenden  and  of  the  bloody  scenes  at  San- 
tiago, in  the  wholesale  execution  of  forty  men  of  the 
expedition  of  the  Virginius  ;  and  the  news  of  the  indi- 
cisive  ten  years'  war  passed  under  my  eye  as  the  editor 
of  a  daily  paper  ;  but  I  could  not  make  out  much  more 
than  a  cloud  of  skirmishes  and  shadows  of  questions. 

The  fact  that  war  broke  out  again  in  the  Island  in  the 
early  part  of  1895,  struck  me  rather  as  a  revival  of  dis- 
agreeable memories  than  a  topic  of  vital  interest,  and 
there  passed  dimly  a  procession  of  events  :  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson's Louisiana  Purchase  ;  Andrew  Jackson's  settle- 
ments of  all  doubts  as  to  the  title  of  the  United  States 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  at  New  Orleans,  Jan.  8, 
1 81 5;  Jackson's  hard-handed  dealing  with  the  British 
subjects  and  Spanish  officers,  when  he  hanged  Arbuth- 
not  and  Ambruster  and  seized  Pensacola  in  181 7,  when 
John  Quincy  Adams  was,  as  secretary  of  state,  his 
friend,  and  John  C.  Calhoun's  position  was  at  least 
ambiguous. 

The  American  appetite  for  Cuba  has  long  been  one 
of  the  facts  to  be  taken  into  account,  and  behind  it  was 
the  history  that  Spain  had  lost  the  rest  of  her  American 
colonies ;  and  the  logic  of  her  colonial  history  was  that 
she  must  part  with  Cuba,  and  we  should  make  up  our 
minds  on  the  subject.  The  Americans  have  been  but 
faintly  conscious  that  the  reinforcements  of  provincial 
troops  from  Connecticut,  New  York  and  New  Jersey — 
that  reached  Lord  Albemarle   before  Havana  in  July, 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  447 

1 762 — decided  the  war  when  the  Enghsh  and  "  Yankees  " 
together  were  the  conquerors  of  Cuba,  and  in  the  tre- 
mendous scenes  of  our  conflict  of  states  and  sections  in 
which  slavery  passed  away,  we  had  almost  forgotten 
the  Ostend  conference,  that  was  a  marvel  of  effrontery, 
designed  by  President  Pierce  to  yield  his  administration 
the  glory  of  annexing  Cuba — which  would  have  given 
him  rank  with  Jefferson  in  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana, 
and  with  Polk,  who  moved  our  frontiers  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  swept  within  our  boundaries  forever  mag- 
nificent California. 

The  anxiety  to  join  Cuba  to  our  imperial  estate  just 
then  was  to  maintain  the  latest  idea  of  Southern  states- 
manship before  the  fatal  spectre  of  secession  arose — the 
balance  of  power  between  the  North  and  South  recog- 
nized as  the  primary,  fundamental,  and  unavoidable 
grand  divisions  of  our  republic. 

When  I  landed  in  Havana  my  mind  was  not  clear  as 
to  what  there  was  of  evil  remaining  from  the  lately 
abolished  institution  of  slavery  or  what  was  the  extent  of 
the  racial  differences.  Of  course,  the  white  and  black 
races  in  Cuba  had  not  been  arrayed  in  parties  opposing 
each  other  for,  owing  to  the  overshadowing  power  of 
Spain,  the  government  was  that  substantially  of  martial 
law,  suppressing  all  native  contentions.  The  question 
seemed  open  whether  the  majority  of  Cubans  were  black 
or  white,  and  the  story  of  the  burning  of  cane  fields,  the 
lurid  sky  south  of  Havana,  the  daring  march  of  Maceo — 
the  heavens  glowing — the  broad  and  smoking  paths  of 
the  rebel  raiders — made  a  strong  suspicion  that  this 
might  be  another  San  Domingo. 

There  was  and  there  is  something  fascinating  in  be- 
half of  Spain  in  the  romance  as  well  as  the  history  of 


448  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

her  relations  with  the  Americas.  Cortez  and  Pizarro 
and  De  Soto  are  the  early  heroes  of  the  continent  that 
appeal  with  the  greatest  charm  to  the  imagination  ;  and 
if  Spain  has  been  cruel  in  shooting  and  slaying  the  red- 
man,  so  were  our  fathers  from  New  England  to  Mich- 
igan and  Kentucky.  Spain  has  made  war  horrible  and 
is  not  able  to  separate  it  from  cruelties.  More  than 
once  she  has  shown  herself  friendly  in  her  diplomacy. 
The  United  States  recognized  the  confederates  as  bel- 
ligerents before  the  Spaniards  did  ;  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  just  resentment  of  Spain  aroused  by  the  meet- 
ing of  Buchanan,  Mason  and  Soule  at  Ostend  and  their 
proceedings  there,  where  it  was  proposed  to  use  the  op- 
portunity of  the  preoccupation  of  Europe  in  the  Cri- 
mean war  to  capture  Cuba — notwithstanding  the  singu- 
lar arrogance  with  which  our  diplomats  insisted  while 
Spain  herself  was  shaken  by  revolution,  that  she  should 
yield  to  money  or  to  force  the  Pearl  of  the  Antilles  to 
us — after  all  this — Spain  surrendered  to  us  the  Vir- 
ginius,  and  General  Prim  was  not  pyrotechnic  with  im- 
passioned pride,  but  courteous  in  response  to  the  pointed 
suggestion  by  President  Grant,  that  the  independence 
of  Cuba  should  be  recognized. 

The  sum  of  this  to  my  mind  was,  that  after  all,  there 
had  been  a  good  deal  of  friendly  reasonableness  in  the 
course  of  Spain  toward  ourselves.  So  far  as  I  could 
comprehend  the  irregular  and  confused  news  from 
Cuba  for  some  months  after  the  declaration  of  the  war 
that  is  in  progress,  the  character  and  course  of  it  did 
not  much  differ  from  the  familiar  experiences  of  the 
ten  years.  There  had  been  rumors  of  bribery  con- 
nected with  the  adjustment  arranged  by  Campos,  that 
closed  the  hostilities,  and  also  of  reform,  and  it  did  not 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  449 

seem  to  be  altogether  improbable  that  there  might  be 
another  settlement,  on  the  basis  of  bribery,  an  influence 
to  which  persistent  report  refers  many  of  the  shifts  in 
the  affairs  of  Cuba.  There  was  not  visible  to  the  naked 
eye  of  the  average  citizen  any  striking  fact  warranting 
disbelief  in  the  power  of  Martinez  Campos,  when  he 
arrived  in  Havana  with  imposing  pomp,  to  combine 
force  of  arms  with  persuasion,  and  the  arrival  of  Gen- 
eral Pando,  with  30,000  men,  reinforced  the  prevalent 
opinion  that  the  Spaniards  would  win  again  and  go  on 
in  the  old  way. 

There  was  a  good  deal  said  in  the  American  Congress 
and  newspapers  that  was  unworthy  the  nation — frantic 
demands  for  impossible  things,  clamors  for  executive 
action  that  would  be  not  only  unbecoming,  but  absurd  ; 
interpretations  by  statesmen  of  national  reputation  of 
international  law,  that  would  be  suppressed  by  any  en- 
lightened committee  presiding  over  a  debate  of  college 
students.  It  was  not  our  place,  surely,  to  insist  on 
action  based  upon  the  precedents  of  piracy  to  excuse  a 
policy  of  filibustering. 

That  there  was  something  far  more  in  this  war  than 
had  been  evident  in  former  struggles,  was  manifest  when 
the  Havana  despatches  told  of  the  steady  and  swift  ad- 
vance of  Gomez  and  Maceo  into  the  central  and  west- 
tern  provinces.  This  was  not  what  was  promised  by 
the  presence  of  the  most  distinguished  of  Spanish 
generals,  backed  by  an  army  of  100,000  men.  The 
Spanish  official  stories,  meagre  and  colored  as  they 
were — as  is  the  habit  and  flagrant  sin  of  military  bulle- 
tins— told  enough  to  make  known  that  there  was  at  last 
a  real  uprising  of  the  Cuban  people,  one  that  swept  over 
the  breadth  and  length  of  the  Island,  and  in  the  fiery 

C— 26 


450  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

flood  of  which  racial  sensibilities,  and  the  factions  of 
men  or  politics,  were  submerged. 

The  return  of  Campos  to  Spain,  discomfited  and  con- 
fessing failure,  the  friends  of  Spain  panicky,  and  the 
Cubans  exultant,  appeared  to  announce  the  final  failure 
of  Spain  to  conquer  Cuba.  Then  was  visible  the  ancient 
bitterness  of  the  Spaniard,  his  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
severity,  and  the  call  for  General  Weyler  to  take  com- 
mand, because,  in  part  by  his  friends  and  in  part  by  his 
enemies,  he  had  been  reputed  intelligent,  energetic,  vin- 
dictive and  merciless. 

At  this  juncture  I  accepted  a  call  to  go  to  Cuba  as  a 
newspaper  correspondent,  and  was  provided  with  many 
letters  of  identification  and  endorsements,  giving  assur- 
ance of  a  considerate  reception  by  the  official  class.  A 
visit  to  Washington  was  valuable  in  the  acquirement  of 
the  certain  knowledge  that  whatever  might  be  the  lack 
of  qualification  in  the  proceedings  Congress  was  dis- 
poscJa  to  initiate,  the  executive  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment was  in  action  limited  by  lack  of  the  authenticities 
for  recognition  or  intervention. 

In  Havana  I  found  a  group  of  representatives  of 
the  leading  American  journals,  particularly  those  of 
New  York,  that  are  now  more  than  ever  searching  the 
world  for  news.  The  correspondents  were  full  of  enter- 
prise, courage,  and  spirit  of  adventure,  flush  with  audac- 
ity, willing  to  risk  life  itself  for  "  scoops,"  and  armed 
with  enormous  letters  of  credit  that  they  might  on 
occasion  use  gold  freely  in  news  service,  open  or 
secret,  and  they  have  done  more  than  all  others  to 
throw  a  fierce  burning  searchlight  upon  the  bloody 
mysteries  of  Cuba  in  war,  and  the  dismal  oppres- 
sions  of    her  people  when   their  agitations   are   so  far 


^  OF  THE 

-UNIVERSITT; 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY.  453 

suppressed  that  the  condition  of  feverish  repose  is 
called  peace. 

My  reception  by  the  Spanish  officials  in  Havana — this 
arrival  was  after  Campos,  and  before  Weyler  —  was 
full  of  politeness,  and  seemed  something  more,  even 
cordial.  The  high  officers  of  Spain  are  educated  men, 
though  unfortunately  they  are  not  like  the  Germans  of 
the  same  rank,  accomplished  in  the  English  language. 
They  are,  however,  trained  men,  and  there  is  in  their 
answers,  to  every-day  inquiries  for  news,  a  diplomatic 
reserve,  showing  the  care  bestowed  in  their  schools  upon 
the  art  of  not  saying  too  much.  A  letter  from  the  Span- 
ish minister.  His  Excellency  Depuy  de  Lome,  gave  the 
responsible  men  about  the  palace  to  understand  that  I 
w^as  a  "  serious  "  man,  and  the  word  serious  conveys  in 
Spanish  a  high  compliment.  I  have  pleasure  in  the 
acknowledgement  of  my  indebtedness  to  Captain-Gen- 
erals Marin,  Weyler,  and  their  respective  secretaries  of 
state,  and  others,  for  their  courtesy,  and  for  confidences 
as  their  obligations  would  permit ;  and  for  painstaking 
to  be  obliging. 

In  the  distinguished  consideration  with  which  I  was 
received,  the  power  of  the  press  and  the  potency  of  the 
country  of  which  I  was  a  citizen,  and  its  ponderosity  in 
the  neighborhood,  were  regarded.  General  Weyler 
gave  orders  that  I  was  to  be  admitted  whenever  calling 
between  the  hours  of  two  and  three  in  the  afternoon, 
and  I  never  asked  him  a  question  that  he  hesitated  to 
answer,  though  often  his  replies  omitted  the  real  mat- 
ter of  importance.  There  were  disadvantages  in  these 
conversations  because  they  were  carried  on  through  in- 
terpreters, and  interpretation  is  often  too  discursive  or 
timid,  and  it  is  hard  to  impart  the  precise  meanings,  es- 


454  T^^P-    STORY  OF  CUBA. 

pecially  when  they  happen  to  be  both  deUcate  and  of 
moment. 

The  press  of  Havana  took  some  interest  in  me,  and 
La  Discussion,  one  of  the  leading-  and  the  most  Hberal 
journal  of  the  city,  interviewed  me,  and  published  a 
portrait,  and  thus  it  became  known  to  the  Cuban 
sympathizers  that  I  was  in  Havana,  and  the  extent  and 
import  of  my  mission  were  exaggerated,  and  after  being 
passed  along,  the  impression  was  made  that  much 
might  depend  upon  the  estimation  I  should  form  of  the 
situation,  economic,  political,  military  and  international. 

One  day — it  was  before  the  iron  lines  were  drawn  on 
all  correspondents,  and  indeed  all  persons  of  whatever 
occupation,  preventing  movements  into  the  doubtful 
country  between  the  defined  lines  of  the  combatants — 
I  was  told,  with  ceremonies  of  mystery,  that  there  had 
just  arrived  a  man  from  the  United  States  of  extraor- 
dinary consequence.  He  had  been  sent  by  the  Repub- 
lican National  Executive  Committee  to  get  into  the  in- 
surgents' part  of  the  country,  to  visit  the  mythical  cap- 
ital of  the  Cubans — Cubitas — to  ascertain  from  original 
sources  what  was  going  on,  and  report  to  the  party,  so 
that  the  republicans  would  know  from  the  inside  what 
should  be  done  in  Congress  and  how  to  shape  the  plat- 
form at  St.  Louis.  The  confidential  nature  of  this  mission 
was  insisted  upon  with  a  vigor  that  was  nearly  violent, 
and  I  was  almost  sworn  not  to  tell  under  any  earthly  cir- 
cumstances of  any  rumor  that  such  a  thing  had  ever 
reached  me.  Was  this  mighty' missionary  man  in  Ha- 
vana ?  No  one  knew.  Had  he  passed  through  the 
city  on  his  way  to  the  rebel  camps  ?  It  was  rumored 
that  he  had  done  so.  I  was  asked  whether  such  an  en- 
terprise would  be  important,  and   thought  it  would  be 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  455 

very  important,  and  instituted  careful  inquiries  as  to 
the  whereabouts  of  the  emissary,  coupled  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  I  would  take  pleasure  in  meeting  the  great 
representative  man  and  having  a  conversation  with 
him,     I  could  possibly  co-operate  in  the  good  cause. 

Upon  this  hint  there  was  diligence  among  the  Cu- 
bans, and  after  a  couple  of  days  a  friend  came  in 
hastily  and  said  :  "  He  is  here,  he  is  here!  "  "  Who  is 
here  ?  "  "  Why  that  republican  party  agent  who  has 
been  sent  to  Cuba  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  get 
the  bottom  facts.  He  has  been  traced  right  here  to 
Havana,  and  has  not  left  the  city.  His  name  and  stop- 
ping place  are  not  known,  but  I  shall  get  very  close  to 
him  to-morrow." 

This  was  encouraging  ;  and  I  was  told  there  were  only 
two  or  three  persons  to  see  before  it  could  be  managed 
that  I  might  meet  the  representative  republican  person 
face  to  face.  The  man  who  knew  all  about  it  was 
found,  and  it  was  fixed  that  I  was  to  see  him,  and  all 
should  be  made  clear.  A  tall  gentleman,  with  fine  fig- 
ure and  eyes  and  princely  manners,  was  introduced,  and 
he  greeted  me  with  the  stately  grace  of  performing  a 
function  on  which  the  destinies  of  Cuba  might  turn. 

He  spoke  no  English,  and  through  the  interpreter  I 
asked  whether  his  information  was  definite  and  certain. 
He  said  with  gravity  it  was.  Did  he  think  the  matter 
was  of  so  much  moment  as  to  engage  the  attention  of 
Cubans  ?  He  did.  Indeed  he  knew  it  absoluteviente. 
It  was  the  thing  of  the  day.  Could  I  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  partizan  minister-extraordinary.  There  was 
a  smile  in  the  dark  eyes  that  looked  me  over,  and  one 
of  the  men  who  understood  Spanish  sprang  to  his  feet 
with  an  expression  of  disappointment,  for  he  knew  what 


456  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

I  was  there  for,  and  before  the  interpreter  could  speak, 
shouted  to  me,   "  Why,  you  are  yourself  the  man  !  " 

We  were  all  disheartened,  and  I  had  some  labor  to 
perform  before  it  became  clear  to  my  friend  that  I  had 
not  been  in  association  with  any  junta  or  committee  in 
New  York  or  Washington  or  Havana  ;  had  no  repre- 
sentative prerogative,  or  capacity  to  exercise,  save  as  a 
newspaper  man  representing  the  New  York  Journal, 
and  was  not  stable  in  opinions,  even  as  to  the  exclusive 
merits  of  the  cause  of  Cuba. 

The  disappointment  and  depression  were  general. 
This  was  a  narrow  escape  from  having  greatness  thrust 
upon  one,  but  the  advertising  done  in  my  behalf  in  the 
Island  brought  to  me  Cubans  who  were  not  reserved 
as  to  the  nature  of  their  sympathies,  and  represented 
in  the  strongest  terms,  with  the  support  of  facts,  the 
merits  of  the  antagonism  to  the  pretensions  of  the 
Peninsulars  to  rule  the  Islanders. 

This  recitation  of  individual  experience  is  to  give  the 
full  force  to  the  fact  of  my  exceptional  facilities  to  ob- 
tain information  from  Cubans  and  Spaniards,  and  it  is 
only  fair  that  the  receptive  condition  of  my  mind  should 
be  emphasized.  In  Cuba  I  was  as  diplomatic  as  the 
Spaniards  in  stating  my  sentiments,  and  was  reserved 
in  all  communications  with  both  sides.  It  was  easy  to 
maintain  neutrality,  because  it  was  consistent  with  can- 
dor. 

I  have  been  aided  since  leaving  the  Island  by  Cuban 
and  Spanish  partizans.  The  Spanish  minister  has  kindly 
furnished  documents  to  sustain  his  theory  of  the  gen- 
erosity of  his  country,  and  the  revolutionists  have  taken 
an  interest  in  imparting  information,  though  offended 
by  my  pronounced  advocacy  of  annexation.    In  giving 


HER   STRUGGLES   FOR   LIBERTY,  457 

attention  to  the  elements  out  of  which  the  future  of 
Cuba  must  be  evolved,  there  is  confirmed  the  opinion 
formed  when  the  failure  of  Campos  was  confessed, 
that  the  loss  of  Cuba  to  Spain  is  irretrievable  and 
•absolute. 

To  the  failure  of  Campos  must  be  added  the  failure 
of  Weyler,  and  the  reason  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  men, 
but  in  the  situation  itself,  taking  into  contemplation  the 
economic  and  military  conditions.  The  Cubans  are  as 
thoroughly  in  a  state  of  revolt  against  Spain  as  the 
Virginians  were  in  the  height  of  the  war  of  the  early 
sixties  against  our  federal  government.  The  whole 
Island  is  in  revolt,  and  the  very  province  in  which  there 
is  most  intense  sympathy  with  the  rebellion  is  Pinar 
del  Rio,  the  extreme  west,  where  Maceo,  with  not  more 
than  ten  thousand  men,  has  held  a  position  for  more 
than  a  month  within  one  day's  march  of  Spanish  forces, 
now  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  strong. 

It  is  asserted  that  there  is  more  food  in  this  province 
than  elsewhere,  and  therefore  Maceo  is  in  no  danger  of 
being  starved  out  ;  and  if  he  can  keep,  by  staying  in 
camp  in  the  mountains,  five  times  his  number  of  Span- 
iards occupied — the  best  troops  on  the  Island  and 
about  all  that  can  be  spared  from  garrison  and  guard 
duty — he  is  doing  very  well  indeed.  Why  the  whole 
array  of  available  Spanish  battalions  is  not  concentrated 
and  hurled  upon  him  instead  of  lingering  on  a  forti- 
fied line,  is  inconceivable  of  American,  French  or  Ger- 
man troops.  Of  course  the  Island  can  never  be  con- 
quered by  this  systematic  and  stolid  immobility. 

That  the  destiny  of  Cuba  must  be  greatly  influenced 
by  the  racial  questions  is  certain,  for  the  Spaniards 
make  artful  use  of  the  prominence  of  colored    insur- 


458  THE   srORY  OF   CUBA. 

gents  in  the  war  to  excite  race  issues  ;  but  the  census 
reports  put  to  an  end  one  bugaboo — that  the  majority 
of  the  people  of  the  Island  are  black.  The  actual  pro- 
portion is,  in  the  latest  thorough  report,  whites,  i,ui,- 
303  ;  blacks,  520,684.  The  Spanish  minister  would 
reduce  the  value  of  these  figures  in  removing  American 
prejudice  by  saying:  "In  Cuba  a  mulatto  must  be  a 
very  distinctive  type  not  to  be  rated  as  a  white  man, 
and  the  question  who  are  the  pure  whites  and  the  pure 
blacks  and  the  mixed  races  was  one  of  difficulty  and 
delicacy  in  the  West  Indies.  He  much  doubted 
whether  the  census  figures  given  me  were  reliable  in 
that  respect,  and  supposed  they  counted  the  majority 
of  people  of  mixed  blood  as  white."  He  is  in  error 
here,  for  all  of  "  visible  admixture  "  of  negro  blood  are 
counted  black,  though  they  may  be  octoroons.  There 
is  a  white  majority  in  each  of  the  six  provinces,  and  the 
blacks  can  no  more  rule  Cuba,  politically  and  socially, 
than  they  can  make  themselves,  as  blacks,  the  masters 
of  Kentucky.  In  Cuba  many  of  them  have  shown 
high  capacity,  and  they  are  in  a  better  position  than  in 
any  of  the  American  states,  and  they  have  escaped  po- 
litical prejudice,  for  they  and  the  whites  have  had  sym- 
pathies in  the  indiscriminate  lack  of  liberty  that  has 
united  them,  and  the  lessons  cannot  be  lost. 

The  Spaniards  and  Cubans  are  of  the  same  blood, 
language,  literature,  religion,  read  the  same  authors, 
pray  at  the  same  altars,  have  largely  the  same  past  with 
its  traditions,  its  glories  of  race,'  its  achievements  of 
arms  ;  but  grievous  misgovernment  has  divided  them. 
One  million  of  the  people  of  Cuba  are  white.  Nothing 
could  have  separated  them  from  the  eighteen  millions 
of  Spain  but  the  insistance  that  the  Peninsula  should 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  459 

rule  the  Island  across  the  Atlantic,  that  the  Island 
should  be  the  prey  of  pirates  and  the  resource  of  profli- 
gates. 

Persistent,  long-continued  injustice,  and  indifference 
or  bitter  hostility  to  all  entreaties  and  demands  for  re- 
dress, have  caused  the  Cubans  to  become  conspirators, 
revolutionists,  enemies  and  destroyers,  all  for  self-gov- 
ernment. Their  affections  could  easily  have  been  re- 
tained. The  golden  colony  would  have  been  as  loyal 
to  the  mother-country  now  as  one  hundred  years  ago, 
if  the  Spanish  ruling  class  had  condescended  to  mix  a 
little  kindness  with  their  masterful  ways.  It  would 
have  paid  Spain  well  to  have  been  occasionally  gracious, 
for  the  Cubans  had  suffered  long  every  form  of  humil- 
iation before  they  were  incensed  to  fury,  and  goaded 
into  a  consummate  purpose  of  redemption  and  ven- 
geance. 

The  last  chance  of  Spain  was  to  interpret  liberally 
and  generously  the  outlined  plans  of  the  treaty  that 
closed  the  ten  years'  war.  When  they  were  carved  and 
rasped  away  until  only  a  mockery  remained,  a  skeleton 
reminder  of  the  original,  this  war  broke  out,  and  it  will 
be  the  last  of  the  civil  wars  in  Cuba,  until  there  are  de- 
velopments entirely  new,  because  there  is  but  one  end 
to  this  conflict  that  is  logical  or  possible,  and  it  is  that 
the  Island  shall  be  governed  by  its  own  people  —  it 
cannot  be  subjected  through  endless  ages  to  a  series  of 
foreign  satraps  and  their  swarms  of  consumers  of  the 
substance  of  the  land. 

The  Spaniard's^ fault  is  that  he  has  not  been  able  to 
escape  from  his  own  system.  He  is  its  slave  as  Cuba 
is  its  victim.  Oh,  the  pity  of  it,  the  disaster  of  it  !  So 
far  as  Spain  is  concerned,  the  Island  covered  with  debts 


460  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

heaped  upon  her  beyond  all  possibility  of  payment, 
mortgaged  to  the  chimney  pots,  and  scourged  and  bled 
and  burned,  no  curse  that  befalls  unfortunate  humanity 
not  visited  upon  her — the  once  royal  and  opulent  Cuba 
is  exhausted.  Whatever  there  may  be  for  others,  there 
is  nothing  for  Spain.  If  the  peninsula  and  the  Island 
should  be  manacled  together  by  the  old  chains,  both 
would  be  reduced  to  indigence  and  ignominy. 

They  must  be  freed  from  each  other.  If  there  are 
those  in  Spain  who  have  read  their  own  history  with 
philosophy,  they  know  this  ;  but  they  are  silent,  for  the 
tyrannical  treatment  of  Cuba  is  necessarily  associated 
with  despotism  in  Spain.  The  Spaniards,  fighting  that 
Cuba  shall  not  be  free,  have  lost  their  own  liberty,  an 
old  story  told  of  all  the  nations  that  have  perished. 

France  lives,  and  lost  Hayti  long  before  Spain's 
troubles  began  with  Cuba.  The  only  mistake  the 
French  made  when  they  found  their  great  West  Indian 
island  was  unprofitable  and  must  be  so,  was  in  giving 
up  so  many  lives  and  so  much  gold  in  strife  to  regain 
the  possession  that  was  certainly  no  more  for  her  than 
if  the  ocean  had  swallowed  it.  Spain  herself  aban- 
doned Hayti  once,  the  seat  of  her  capital  of  the  New- 
World,  and  the  loss  was  gain. 

We  may  say  there  is  now  imposed  upon  Cuba  the 
war  debt  that  is  indissoluble  and  irredeemable,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  show  for  it.  It  is  charged  to  Cuba, 
but  it  rests  upon  Spain,  the  unfortunate  proprietor  who 
looks  over  a  beautiful  estate  ,whose  future  can  have  no 
income  for  him  to  dispose  of.  The  only  use  of  it  is 
that  of  a  country  for  the  education,  discipline  and  ad- 
venture of  Spain's  young  men  beyond  the  seas,  and  fat 
places  for  her   military  chieftains  and  their  favorites, 


^  OF  THE  *^ 

UNIVERSITY. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  463 

and  the  support  of  ungrateful  and  insatiable  and  for- 
ever swarming  office-holders. 

There  is,  no  doubt,  a  certain  convenience  and  bland- 
ishment in  this,  but  it  would  be  infinitely  better  for 
Spain  if  Spaniards  would  turn  their  attention  to  their 
own  country — their  own  incomparable  peninsula.  De- 
velopement  at  home  is  the  hope  of  her  future.  She  has 
for  centuries  wasted  her  substance  in  colonies,  and  the 
result  is  her  comparative  poverty,  her  men  perishing, 
and  her  wealth  in  soil  and  labor  wasted,  irrecoverably. 

Why  this  war  is  the  worst  ever  seen  ;  labor  refused 
compensation,  annihilates  capital  to  lay  the  foundations 
of  liberty  in  chaos.  Why  should  Spain  impoverish  her- 
self to  hold  a  title  for  land  that  must  change  owners 
before  it  can  yield  income  ?  Will  she  ruin  herself  for 
Cuba's  sake  ?  If  she  does,  where  shall  she  find  even  the 
shadow  of  compensation  for  her  sacrifice  ? 

We  may  have  to  take  a  lofty  tone  with  Spain,  but  we 
should  not  insult  her  in  the  midst  of  her  misfortunes. 
We  owe  her  good-will.  In  the  proclamation  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  she  was  placed  apart  as  an  exception 
among  the  European  nations.  That  she  had  ancient 
rights  was  conceded.  There  has  been  a  change,  and 
the  biggest  fact  in  the  whole  business  is  that  Spain  has 
lost  Cuba. 

The  next  thing  is,  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  it  ? 
How  shall  we  recognize  the  fact,  as  Spain  is  not  suffici- 
ently convinced  of  it  ?  The  civilian  rebels  in  Cuba  are 
especially  vigorous  in  their  freedom  of  speech  about  the 
United  States.  They  are  so  in  their  demands  that  we 
should  be  up  and  doing,  and  that  which  is  their  master- 
ing desire  is  that  we  should  help  them  to  be  the  ruling 
class  of  the  Island. 


HSITY 


464  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

On  account  of  the  people  at  large  of  Cuba,  the  action 
taken  by  the  United  States  should  be  pursuant  to  a 
well  considered  policy  of  annexation.  It  is  that  which 
is  of  greater  importance  at  this  moment  than  anything 
else  in  sight  that  is  not  of  intimate,  domestic  concern- 
ment. We  must  shape  our  national  proceedings  in 
accordance  with  interpretations  of  current  history — that 
Spain  has  no  further  use  for  Cuba,  but  to  get  out  of  it 
with  as  much  honor  and  saving  of  reputation  and  min- 
imum of  sacrifices  as  she  has  the  conservative  states- 
manship to  secure. 

She  has  lost  the  Island  through  the  affliction  of  her 
own  misgovernment,  and,  so  far  as  she  holds  any  part 
of  it  in  military  subjection,  it  will  be  at  vast  cost  and 
no  profit.  Gomez  says,  in  his  manifesto  of  December 
3rd,  that  it  is  all  right  if  the  Cubans  have  recognition  of 
rights  as  belligerents,  but  he  shall  go  on  to  free  the 
Island,  sword  in  hand.  That  is  the  spirit  of  the  soldier, 
and  a  matter  of  fact  of  moment. 

American  statesmanship  should  find  the  way  with 
the  concurrence  of  nations,  at  least  their  acquiescence, 
and  that  they  may  consent  at  last  we  should  not  say 
too  much  at  first,  to  interpose  our  good  offices  to  stop 
the  effusion  of  blood  and  the  consumption  of  property, 
and  save  from  abject  misery  a  million  and  a  half  of 
people  ;  briefly,  to  end  the  incessant  troop  of  horrors  of 
the  hopeless  war  in  a  truce  that  shall  become  a  peace, 
and  take  Cuba  under  our  protection  as  a  territory,  to 
become,  with  the  hearty  help  of  her  people,  a  state  of 
the  Union !  Some  of  the  resolutions  before  Congress, 
relating  rather  remotely  to  this  subject,  have  been  well 
suited  as  preliminary  steps,  but  the  full  measure  of  the 
matter  has  not  appeared  in  any  of  the  off'erings  tenta- 


HER  STRUGGLES  EOR   LIBERTY.  4^5 

tive  of  a  public  policy  equal  to  the  emergency.  Con- 
gress is  too  strong  with  the  strength  of  this  great  nation 
to  employ  any  frivolous  words  of  mere  belligerency. 

We  need  to  shape  a  poHcy  that  is  peaceable,  politic, 
firm,  possible  and  patriotic.  The  overhanging  .neigh- 
borhood and  overshadowing  mass  of  our  nation  im- 
pressed Cuba  at  large,  and  affected  the  imagination  of 
her  sons;  and  imagination  is  one  of  the  creative  forces. 
There  has  been  a  growth  of  Americanism  in  the 
Island,  and  the  young  men  feel  themselves  Americans 
rather  than  Europeans — a  fact  full  of  promise.  It  is  the 
pride  and  happiness  and,  they  believe,  the  security  of 
many  of  them  to  be  or  to  become  American  citizens, 
and  when  we  look  at  it  closely  the  at  first  apparent 
artificiality  of  the  proceeding  of  "  making  themselves 
Americans,"  as  General  Weyler  says,  gives  way  to  the 
appreciation  of  its  naturalness  and  belief  in  its  fruitful- 
ness. 

If  we,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  are  Americans, 
in  the  great  sense  of  the  word,  we  should  know  from 
sympathy  that  the  Cubans  absorb  Americanism  from 
the  atmosphere,  and  it  is  the  true  article.  The  time 
was  when  if  Spain  had  been  discomfited  in  or  disen- 
chanted about  Cuba,  the  Island  reduced  from  the  con- 
trol of  the  peninsula  would  have  fallen  a  prey  to  home- 
made demagogues  and  imported  adventurers.  That 
danger  is  over.  ,  The  drift  of  Cuban  sentiment  is  to 
Americanism,  and  there  is  behind  it  the  teaching  of  a 
generation  of  sorrows. 

Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  as  to  the 
government  at  Havana  and  our  relations  to  it,  or  the 
nature  and  extent  of  our  associations  with  Venezuela, 
it  is  clear  that  the  day  when   Americans  can  look  with 


466  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

indifference  upon  the  passage  of  the  Hawaiian  islands 
into  the  hands  of  one  of  the  powers  of  Europe  or  the 
parceUing  of  South  America  after  the  manner  of  Af- 
rica, is  gone  never  to  return,  and  it  is  distinct  also  that 
when  Spain's  grasp  upon  Cuba  relaxes,  no  nation  in 
Europe  can  claim  the  exercise  of  authority.  No  re- 
mote ruler  but  Spain  can  be  tolerated,  and  as  we  are 
bound  by  international  comity  to  respect  her  ancient 
title,  that  of  discovery  and  colonization,  which  has  been 
broken  by  the  contention  of  internal  forces,  we  are 
inevitably  to  take  her  place  when  she  goes  ;  and  surely 
the  Spanish  situation  would  be  far  more  promising  if 
her  young  men  who  are  filling  so  many  Cuban  graves 
gave  their  lives  to  their  own  country,  in  the  industries 
of  home  creation  rather  than  foreign  destruction. 

The  Venezuelan  agitation  has  supplied  the  ingredient 
that  will  engage  flagging  attention  to  the  waters  south 
of  us  as  of  equal  interest  for  us  with  those  that  unite  us 
with  and  divide  us  from  Europe  and  Asia.  Look  at 
Cuba  on  the  map,  and  note  how  near  she  is  to  both 
Florida  and  Yucatan,  her  west  end  commanding  the 
gates  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  while  eastward  she  slopes 
far  down  into  the  tropics,  and  dominates  the  Caribbean 
Sea.  She  is  the  most  luxuriantly  rich  of  the  islands  of 
the  seas.  She  is  almost  as  plainly  ours  in  the  course  of 
nature  as  is  Long  Island.  We  do  not  undervalue  the 
Hawaiian  and  Samoan  groups,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  Cuba  is  worth  all  the  islands  in  the  Pacific 
between  our  borders  and  Japan,  including  New  Zealand. 

As  an  American  state,  Cuba  would  be  worthy  her 
place  in  the  splendid  and  immortal  sisterhood  ;  and  as 
a  prize  of  peace,  she  would  enter  the  Union  with  an 
endowment  of  the  matchless  prodigality  of  nature,  add- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  467 

ing  the  opulence  of  the  tropics  to  the  magnificence  we 
inherit  in  the  imperial  north  temperate  zone  ;  and  the 
statesmanship  of  this  work  will  have  rank  along  with 
that  which  gave  us  California  and  the  two  oceans  for 
our  boundaries. 

On  the  Cuban  shore  the  silvery  surf  breaks  from  a 
mighty  sweep  of  waters,  exquisite  in  color,  reminding 
one  of  the  Mediterranean  embracing  with  crystal  arms 
Italy,  with  all  her  gifts  of  beauty,  but  in  Cuba  we  behold 
the  royal  palms  waving  over  a  soil  surpassing  Egypt  in 
the  accumulated  wealth  of  ages ;  and  as  the  arch  of  the 
western  sky  stands  radiant  over  the  shining  waters,  we 
cannot  fail  to  remember  that  here  is  the  American 
Mediterranean,  and  feel  the  thrill  of  an  elevated  ambi- 
tion that  of  right  it  ought  to  be,  and  at  last,  with  peace 
and  honor,  shall  be  ours. 

Just  when  and  how  Cuba  shall  be  won  it  is  not  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  be  hasty  in  undertaking  to  say,  but 
it  is  timely  to  declare  that  war  with  Spain  should  not  be 
regarded  unless  in  a  dire  complication  a  part  of  the 
proceeding. 

Avoidance  of  that  calamity  will  bear  testimony  to 
our  civilization,  and  command  more  respect  than  mili- 
tary conquest. 

That  element  in  affairs  which  we  call  business  more 
and  more  emerges  from  private  transactions,  and  decides 
the  destiny  of  nations. 

There  is  a  public  power  in  the  conservation  of  the 
general  good  of  communities  to  which  the  prejudices  of 
peoples  and  the  passionate  remonstrances  of  racial  or 
imperial  ambitions  must  give  way,  and  we  can  already 
trace  the  tendencies  that  will  apply  this  principle  to  the 
division,  by  natural  law,  of  Spain  and  Cuba,  when  their 


468  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

vision  is  elear  that  the  iron  bond  of  union  is  the  cause 
of  mutual  ruin. 

It  has  seemed  to  some  writers  fair  to  refer  to  the  Cu- 
ban rebels  as  a  rabble  and  a  lot  of  barbarians,  unworthy- 
respectful  attention  or  sympathy  as  representatives  of 
a  popular  cause.  But  certainly  many  of  those  support- 
ing the  rebellion  with  all  their  hearts  are  gentlemen  and 
ladies.  The  charge  that  they  are  ruffians  and  monsters  is 
shameful,  and  its  assertion,  to  turn  a  sentence,  is  mean. 
There  are  none  more  clever  and  accomplished  than 
they.  The  following  testimony  from  a  Cuban  "  coun- 
try newspaper  "  is  more  notable  because  it  was  repro- 
duced as  official  news  in  a  Havana  paper  : 

Santiago  de  Cuba,   Feb.  9,  1896. 

In  these  days  there  have  been  solicited  and  granted  a  great  number  of 
passports  for  Venezuela,  Costa  Rica,  Santo  Domingo,  Mexico  and  Hayti. 
If  this  emigration  should  continue,  within  a  very  short  while  we  will  re- 
main without  population. 

The  want  of  work  is  the  principal  cause  that  many  people  have  aban- 
doned the  country. 

It  is  said,  and  it  appears  to  be  certain,  that  in  this  week  a  good  many 
persons  have  joined  the  rebels,  some  quite  well  known. 

The  line  about  the  well-known  people  going  over  to 
the  rebels  should  be  marked.  Insurgents  resent  the 
imputations  of  ruffianism  and  vulgarity,  and  of  the  prev- 
alence of  self-seeking  foreign  adventurers,  saying  that 
"  the  best  blood  of  Cuba  "  is  in  the  rebel  raids  ;  that  men 
are  in  their  ranks  who  have  helped  to  burn  their  own 
cane,  using  the  torch  upon  their  property  in  the  belief 
that  they  were  serving  the  cause  of  freedom. 

It  is  the  voice  of  ignorance  and  violence  that  de- 
nounces the  Cuban   rebels  as   a   rabble   of   miscreants, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  469 

adventurers,  mere  cut-throats  and  incendiaries.  They 
are  Americans,  and  worthy  to  be  with  and  of  us. 

There  are  in  Cuban  towns  60,000  volunteers,  uni- 
formed, drilled,  armed  with  rifles  and  bayonets,  and  as 
they  have  no  armories  and  supervise  themselves,  it  is 
safe  to  say  they  have  no  masters.  Each  man  keeps  his 
gun  and  ammunition  at  home.  The  volunteers  are,  as 
a  rule,  native  Spaniards,  and  have  Spanish  sympathies, 
but  they  are  identified  with  Cuba,  and  proud  of  their 
places.  They  are  considered  by  the  majority  of  the 
Cuban  insurgents  their  most  determined  and  remorseless 
enemies.  But  the  volunteers  are  the  armed  representa- 
tive men  of  business,  and  they  hold  the  balance  of 
power.  More  than  once  they  have  deposed  captain- 
generals,  and  they  can  do  it  again.  They  mean,  above 
all,  to  hold  their  arms  and  positions,  and  the  latter 
are  departing,  for  business  is  taking  to  itself  wings  and 
flying  away. 

There  are  in  Havana  men  and  women  who  were 
worth  millions  in  the  old  days,  and  are  in  poverty  so 
pinching  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  their  personal 
comfort  to  exchange  places  with  their  old  servants.  A 
man  who  spent  not  less  than  $30,000  a  year  for  thirty 
years,  and  regarded  it  as  economical  living,  does  not 
keep  a  servant,  because  he  cannot  pay  one.  His  wife 
does  the  cooking,  and  there  is  little  to  cook,  and  there 
is  not  a  ray  of  light  in  the  darkness  of  the  future,  save 
the  glimmering  hope  that  something  will  come  out  of 
the  great  country  to  the  northwest  that  will  change  the 
scene  and  give  another  chance. 

A  friend  inquiring  in  Havana  for  a  planter  he  once 
knew,  and  whose  hospitality  had  been  one  of  the  charmed 
recollections  of  his  life,  was  told  that  he  was  destitute 

C— 27 


470 


THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


in  a  village  near  the  city,  and  called,  finding-  him  poor 
indeed — plantations  all  gone,  no  sugar  or  tobacco  to  sell, 
and  no  telling  when  work  could  be  done.  He  was  on 
the  brink  of  the  dread  abyss  of  despair,  but  the  word 
America  bade  him  hope.  A  planter  still  active,  who 
has  by  no  means  yielded  to  gloomy  fortune,  whose  cane 
has  not  been  burned,  was  told  by  the  military  com- 
mandant in  his  neighborhood,  that  if  he  would  provide 
for  and  pay  the  soldiers  to  guard  his  fields  and  build- 
ings, they  could  be  furnished.  "  But,"  said  he,  "I  have 
no  money  to  pay  soldiers— that  tax,  this  tax,  and  the 
other  tax,  has  eaten  up  all  my  gains.  My  only  chance 
is  in  the  sugar  fields,  and  you  can  see  what  that  is.  I 
have  no  money  and  cannot  borrow  a  dollar,  though  I 
thought  myself  worth  two  millions.  The  end  for  me  is 
not  far  off." 

There  is  an  impending  collapse  of  business — to  be  one 
of  the  most  destructive  and  instructive  that  has  fallen 
upon  a  once  great  and  prosperous  community.  "  An 
earthquake  could  not  overthrow  a  city  with  a  surer  blow" 
than  the  shock  that  must  come  when  the  war  has  done 
its  worst,  and  the  sinking  of  the  one  hundred  sugar  and 
tobacco  millions  is  not  a  speculative  but  a  verified  fact. 

Can  the  politicians,  and  the  chambers,  and  boards, 
and  committees,  fail  to  see  that  the  extraordinary  will 
occur;  that  the  unexpected,  if  we  calculate  on  customary 
conditions,  will  surely  happen';  that  what  we  are  in  the 
habit  of  calling  the  impossible  is  precisely  that  which  is 
CO  be  anticipated  ? 

There  is  a  business  army,  with  the  physical  force  to 
turn  and  overturn.  The  calamity  that  approaches  an- 
nounces itself  in  many  ways  to  these  very  men.  They 
have   already  felt  the  pinch  of  hardening   times,  and 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  47 1 

fancy  60,000  business  rifles  an:d  bayonets,  between  the 
Spaniards  and  Cubans,  and  that  some  day  they  say  as 
one  man,  "  It  is  time  to  stop  the  destruction  of  the 
Island.  Stop  !  "  When  that  time  arrives  the  war  must 
be  ended,  and  the  rest  is  easy.  The  solution  will  flow 
like  a  river.  The  ocean  that  is  its  home  is  Americanism, 
and  the  current  will  carry  Cuba  into  the  American 
Union  as  surely  as  the  Mississippi  pays  tribute  to  the 
Gulf. 

The  volunteers,  13,000  strong  in  Havana,  60,000  in 
Cuba,  are  held  to  be  the  sure  guarantee  of  the  enduring 
supremacy  of  Spain,  but  the  Providence  that  shapes  our 
ends  has  other  uses  for  them.  The  Cubans  dread  them, 
and  it  is  understood  that  they,  more  keenly  than  others, 
antagonize  the  Americans  and  are  the  most  fiery  and 
relentless  of  all  who  oppose  suggestions  for  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Island. 

Every  day  declares  the  incapacity  of  Spain,  and  there 
is  a  point  at  which  conservatism  saves  itself  with  revo- 
lution. The  time  is  not  far  off  when  the  final  question 
of  bread  will  be  uppermost,  and  when  the  bread-and- 
butter  question  is  raised  there  will  be  some  improve" 
ments.  It  is  when  the  existence  of  butter  is  forgotten 
that  the  bread  appeal  is  most  powerful.  When  busi- 
ness is  gone  from  Cuba,  Spain  must  go,  for  business  will 
compel  her.  Business  does  not  regard  a  foolish  pride 
or  deadly  revenge,  but  takes  into  account  the  whole- 
some and  substantial,  and  preaches  peace  with  the 
promise  of  prosperity. 

This  is  one  of  the  ways  in  which  Cuba  may  be  cleared 
for  her  great  future,  without  our  intervention,  and  by 
the  prevention  of  further  blood-shed  by  superior  force. 
It  would  be  a  happy  solution.    Hope  for  and  help  it ! 


472  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

The  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  most  fertile  and  fair- 
est, the  largest  and  noblest  of  the  American  islands,  de- 
mand that  it  shall,  through  pacific  international  pro- 
cesses, yield  to  the  drift  of  manifest  destiny,  and  the 
attraction  of  gravitation  of  the  great  republic,  and  take 
its  place  as  an  indestructible  State  of  the  indissoluble 
American  Union — one  of  the  stars  of  our  national  con- 
stellation— the  United  States. 

The  contention  is  that  this,  "  consummation  devoutly 
to  be  wished,"  will  be  led  up  to  by  the  procession  of 
events  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  and  the  achieve- 
ment celebrated  in  our  history  as  ranking  with  the  mem- 
orable expansion  of  our  domain,  from  the  Mississippi  to 
the  Pacific. 

The  people  of  Cuba,  when  they  are  free,  will  vindi- 
cate once  more  the  inalienable  rights  of  self-govern- 
ment. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY,  473 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

POINTS    OF    PICTURES. 

Sugar  Plantation — Tobacco  Fields — Royal  Palms — Cocoanut  Palms- 
Cuban  Vegetation — Moro  Castle  Cell — Valley  of  the  Yumuri — 
Santiago — Royal  Family — The  Object  Lesson  of  Cuba  and  Long 
Island  Contrasted  on  the  Scale  as  to  Size — The  Spanish  Hill-top 
and  Car  Fortifications — Cuban  Pictures  too  Beautiful  to  Paint,  Ex- 
cept with  a  Poetic  Pen. 

The  Spaniards  have  had  a  laborious  year  and  a  quar- 
ter since  the  war  that  continues  broke  out.  They  have 
cut  many  roads  through  jungles  and  constructed  barri- 
cades and  excavated  ditches,  and  they  have  built  two 
thousand  forts  for  the  shelter  of  their  petty  garrisons, 
that  they  may  be  able  to  stand  a  siege  and  beat  off 
bands  of  insurgents  in  superior  numbers.  These  forts 
are  structures  impervious  by  rifle  shots,  and  are  loop- 
holed.  They  are  provided  with  water  supply  and  food 
and  cartridges  for  a  few  days,  and  in  them  the  Spanish 
guards  are  enabled  to  avoid  malaria  and  partake  of 
their  scanty  rations  in  comparative  comfort  and  be 
right  in  the  way  of  hindering  the  roving  columns  of  the 
rebels. 

The  forts  are  in  commanding  places,  and  have  become 
a  feature  in  the  landscapes  hardly  second  in  conspicuity 
to  the  palm  trees  that  forever  dominate  the  scenery. 
The  Spaniards  in  their  snuggeries  would  be  a  forbidding 
feature  over  a  vast  extent  of  territory,  if  they  were  keen 
marksmen.     With  the  range  of  a  mile  or  two   that   the 


474  "^^E  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

rifles  with  which  the  Spanish  soldiers  are  provided, 
half  a  dozen  sharp-shooters  in  a  fort  would  be  distract- 
ing hornets'  nests,  and  have  a  wide-spread  influence. 
The  terrors  of  the  system  of  minor  fortifications  are 
much  mitigated  by  the  fact  that  markmanship  is  an 
extraordinary  accomplishment  among  the  Spanish 
soldiery. 


The  active  Spaniards  have  also  forts  on  car  tracks 
for  the  protection  of  railroads.  They  take  freight  cars 
and  plate  them  with  iron,  and  loop-hole  them,  and 
place  two  or  three  with  appropriate  garrisons  in  the 
trains  transporting  troops  and  supplies.  The  insur- 
gents have  been  bothered  a  good  deal  by  these  peram- 
bulating fortifications,  but  recently  they  have  found 
out  a  way  of  beating  the  car  forts,  by  waylaying  them 
in  railroad  cuts,  and  firing  through  the  unprotected  roofs 
— a  very  disturbing  ceremony. 


The  map  of  Cuba  that  we  give,  showing  the  line  of 
march  of  Gomez  through  the  Island  from  east  to  west, 
of  the  insurgent  forces,  is  contrasted  with  Long  Island 
drawn  on  the  same  scale.  The  line  of  the  march  should, 
however,  be  projected  two-thirds  through  Pinar  del  Rio. 

This  map  furnishes  an  object  lesson,  showing  by  meas- 
urement with  a  familiar  object,  how  great  a  space  the 
unhappy  Island,  whose  dramatic  story  we  relate,  occu- 
pies in  the  American  seas,  where  it  is  always  summer. 
Long  Island  is  always  held  in  great  esteem  for  her  fine 
figure  between  the  sea  and  the  sound,  extended  from 
Manhattan  Harbor  to  Montauk  Point,  her  soil  fertile 
except  where    the  sand   hills  or    the  salt  marshes   en- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  475 

croach,  her  climate  salubrious,  the  home  of  the  sea 
breeze,  the  surrounding-  marshes  teeming  with  food 
fishes,  far  surpassing  those  that  in  all  the  historic  ages 
have  been  famous  in  the  sea  of  Marmora,  and  the  Hel- 
lespont and  the  Dardenelles  and  all  the  abounding 
waters  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Black  Sea. 

Now  Cuba  is  twenty-nine  times  the  size  of  Long 
Island  ;  indeed  is  longer  measured  across  degrees  of 
latitude,  and  larger  in  superficial  area  than  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  is  as  large  as  England,  omitting  Wales. 


The  forests  of  Cuba  are  full  of  precious  wood,  her 
mountains  charged  with  iron,  copper  and  coal,  her  soil 
ready  to  yield,  under  conditions  of  liberty  and  order, 
justice  and  intelligence,  briefly  of  good  government 
and  industry,  five  million  tons  of  sugar  yearly,  instead 
of  one,  and  corn  and  tobacco  galore  ;  while  in  translu- 
cent seas  and  swift  rivers,  there  are  fish  innumerable  and 
delicious,  and  oysters  of  a  flavor  and  abundance  that 
would  be  approved  in  New  York  or  Baltimore  ;  and 
the  turtles  crawl  like  gorgeous  and  gigantic  insects 
over  the  coral  islands  that  cluster  in  strands  of  gems 
around  the  exquisite  and  enormous  Pearl  of  the  Antilles. 


The  fruit-stand  in  Havana  shows  the  decorative 
make  up  of  pine-apples,  oranges  and  bananas,  and  also 
the  style  of  portico,  with  massive  and  lofty  stone  pillars, 
that  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  features  of  Havana 
architecture.  Under  the  gigantic  colonnades  there  is 
abundant  shelter  from  the  rain,  and  when  the  pillars 
are  curtained  and  the  sidewalk  of  stone  dampened,  the 
power  of  the  torrid  sun  is  gratefully  modified.     There 


476  THE  STORY  OP-  CUBA. 

are  two  ways  in  tropical  towns  of  building  for  comfort — 
one  to  use  flimsy  material  and  trust  to  mere  shade  and 
the  free  circulation  of  air,  and  the  other  to  erect  walls 
of  extraordinary  thickness,  warding  off  the  heat  with 
masses  of  stones  and  piling  ponderous  arches  on  giant 
pillars.     The  latter  is  the  Havana  way. 


Mr.  M.  H.  Ballou,  in  his  "Due  South" — which  is 
brightly  appreciative  of  the  beauties  of  Cuba — gives 
this  picture  of  one  of  the  most  charming  places  irf  the 
world : 

"The  Bishop's  Garden,  so  called  because  some  half 
century  since  it  was  the  residence  of  the  bishop  of 
Havana,  is  about  four  miles  from  the  city,  on  the  line 
of  the  Marianao  railroad.  It  must  have  been  a  delight- 
ful place  when  in  its  prime  and  properly  cared  for  ; 
even  now,  in  its  ruins,  it  is  extremely  interesting.  There 
are  a  score,  more  or  less,  of  broken,  moss-grown  statues, 
stone  balustrades,  and  stone  capitals  lying  among  the 
luxuriant  vegetation,  indicating  what  was  once  here. 
Its  alleys  of  palms,  over  two  hundred  years  in  age,  the 
thrifty  almond  trees,  and  the  gaudy-colored  pinons, 
with  their  honeysuckle-like  bloom,  delight  the  eye. 
The  flamboyant  absolutely  blazed  in  its  gorgeous  flow- 
ers, like  ruddy  flames,  all  over  the  grounds.  The  re- 
markable fan-palm  spread  out  its  branches  like  a  pea- 
cock's tail,  screening  the  vistas  here  and  there.  Through 
these  grounds  flows  a  small,  swift  stream,  which  has  its 
rise  in  the  mountains  some  miles  inland,  its  bright  and 
sparkling  waters  imparting  an  added  beauty  to  the 
place.  By  simple  irrigating  means  this  stream  is  made 
to  fertilize  a  considerable  tract  of  land  used  as  vegeta- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  477 

ble  gardens,  lying  between  Tulipan  and  Havana.  The 
Bishop's  Garden  still  contains  large  stone  basins  for 
swimming  purposes,  cascades,  fountains,  and  miniature 
lakes,  all  rendered  possible  by  means  of  this  small, 
clear,  deep  river.  The  neglected  place  is  sadly  sugges- 
tive of  decay,  with  its  moss-covered  paths,  tangled 
undergrowth,  and  untrimmed  foliage.  Nothing,  how- 
ever, can  mar  the  glory  of  the  grand  immemorial  palms. 
"  The  town  of  Tulipan,  in  which  is  the  Bishop's  Gar- 
den, is  formed  of  neat  and  pleasant  residences  of  cit- 
izens desiring  to  escape  the  bustle  and  closeness  of  the 
city.  The  houses  are  half  European  or  American  in 
their  architecture,  modified  to  suit  the  climate.  Here 
the  American  consul-general  has  a  delightfully  chosen 
home,  surrounded  by  pleasant  shade,  and  characterized 
by  lofty,  cool  apartments,  with  bright,  snowy  marble 
floors,  plenty  of  space,  and  perfect  ventilation.  Mr. 
Williams  is  a  gentleman  unusually  well  fitted  for  the 
responsible  position  he  fills,  having  been  a  resident  of 
Cuba  for  many  years,  and  speaking  the  language  like  a 
native.  In  his  intensely  patriotic  sentiments  he  is  a 
typical  American.  It  is  not  out  of  place  for  us  to 
acknowledge  here  our  indebtedness  to  him  for  much 
important  information  relating  to  the  Island." 


The  tower  of  the  cathedral  that  is  seen  down  the  nar- 
row street,  and  was  built  of  white  limestone,  is  the  spire 
that  we  may  regard  as  his  monument,  and  we  quote 
its  history  in  "  Cuba  with  Pen  and  Pencil,"  by  Samuel 
Hazzard : 

"  The  grand  object  of  interest,  however,  is  the  '  Tomb 
of  Columbua,'  and  it  is  astonishing  how  many  people 
there  are  who  come  to  Havana  that  are  ignorant  of  the 


/J78  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

remains  of  Coluaibus  being  in  the  precincts  of  Havana 
— having  been  transferred  from  the  place  of  his  death. 

"  History  tells  us  that  Columbus  died  at  Valladolid, 
Spain,  on  Ascension  day,  the  20th  of  May,  1506  ;  that 
his  body  was  deposited  in  the  convent  of  San  Francisco, 
and  his  obsequies  celebrated  with  funeral  pomp  in  that 
city.  His  remains  were  afterwards  transported,  in  15 13, 
to  the  Carthusian  monastery  of  Seville,  known  as  '  Las 
Cuevas,'  where  they  erected  a  handsome  monument  to 
him,  by  command  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  with  the 
simple  inscription,  borne  upon  his  shield,  of  : 

A  CASTILE  Y  LEON, 

NUEVO  MUNDO  DIO  COLON. 

"  In  the  year  1856  his  body  and  that  of  his  son,  Diego, 
were  removed  to  the  city  of  San  Domingo,  in  the  island 
of  Hayti,  and  interred  in  the  principal  chapel.  But 
they  were  not  permitted  to  rest  even  there  ;  for  on  the 
15th  of  January,  1796,  they  were  brought  to  Havana, 
and  interred  in  their  present  tomb,  amidst  grand  and 
imposing  ceremonies,  participated  in  by  the  army,  navy, 
and  church  officials,  and  an  immense  concourse  of  spec- 
tators. To  use  the  words  of  a  Spanish  author  :  '  Havana 
wept  with  joy,  admiration,  and  gratitude  at  seeing  enter 
within  its  precincts,  in  order  to  guard  them  forever,  the 
ashes  of  Cristobal  Colon.' 

"The  ashes,  it  is  understood,  were  deposited  in  an  urn, 
which  was  placed  in  a  niche  in  the  wall,  at  the  entrance 
and  to  the  left  of  the  chancel  of  the  cathedral.  Over 
this  has  been  placed  a  slab  of  stone,  elaborately  carved, 
in  a  stone  frame,  and  representing  the  bust  of  Colum- 
bus in  the   costume   of  the   time,  a  wreath   of   laurel 


ATTACK  BY  CUBANS  ON  FORTIFIKD  RAlI,ROAD  TILAIN.  (479) 


OHIVERSITT 
_       OF  y 


HER   STRUGGLES  EOR   LIBERTY.  481 

around  his  head,  and  symboHcal  emblems  at  the  foot  of 
the  medalHon,  upon  which  is  inscribed  in  Castilian  : 

Oh,  rest  thou,  image  of  the  great  Colon, 
Thousand  centuries  remain,  guarded  in  the  urn, 
And  in  the  remembrance  of  our  nation. 

"  Well  may  the  question  be  asked  :  Where  then  were 
all  the  muses  when  they  inscribed  such  lines  as  these  ?  " 


The  Spanish  outpost  is  evidently  on  a  railroad  and  in 
an  open  country.  There  is  no  ambuscade  in  sight. 
There  may  be  rebels  in  the  hills  that  are  far  away  out 
of  rifle  range.  The  strange  old  town  answers  the  pur- 
pose of  a  look-out  and  shelter  for  riflemen  if  the  enemy 
should  make  a  dash.  The  officer  in  command  has  just 
received  a  despatch  that  is  attracting  close  attention, 
and  may  announce  the  movement  of  a  Spanish  column 
or  an  advance  of  the  enemy.  The  messenger  is  mounted 
on  one  of  those  swift,  easy  single-footed  rackers,  the  clat- 
ter of  whose  feet  on  the  hard  roads  is  musical,  and  the 
delightful  gait  one  that  all  the  Cuban  horses  of  good 
breeding  have.  The  inevitable  palm  tree  disputes  pos- 
session of  the  land  with  a  telegraph  pole. 


The  sugar  plantation,  from  a  photograph,  shows  at  a 
glance  the  scope  of  the  fields  on  which  the  cane,  so  rich 
in  sweets,  grows  with  luxuriance  and  yields  the  raw 
material  of  the  wealth  that  has  made  Cuba  a  prize  to  be 
fought  for.  The  cane  grows  on  year  after  year  and 
when  cut  is  carted  to  the  machinery  and  furnaces 
marked  by  the  towering  chimney.  An  extensive  plan- 
tation has  hundreds  of  mules  and  horses  and  carts  in 


482  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

strings  of  fifties.  In  war  time  this  equipment  is  impor- 
tant in  the  transportation  of  the  baggage  of  the  armies. 
When  the  cane  is  carted  to  the  grinding  machinery,  the 
juice  is  pressed  out,  and  after  the  second  squeeze  is  over 
the  pulp  quickl]^  dries  in  the  sun — the  dry  season  is 
grinding  time — and  serves  for  fuel  ;  and  this  supply  is 
usually  found  sufficient.  The  sugar  is  transported  in 
bags  made  of  jute,  each  containing  from  three  hundred 
to  three  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  the  average  pack- 
age being  three  hundred  and  twenty  pounds.  The  cost 
of  the  English  bag  is  nine  cents,  but  the  duty,  unless  it 
is  made  in  Spain,  is  ten  cents,  and  the  price  to  Cubans 
is  twenty  ;  so  that  Spain  gets  the  job  of  making  the  bags 
and  the  Cuban  sugar  makers  pay  twice  their  value  and 
five  per  cent.  over.  The  sugar  production  of  Cuba,  un- 
der conditions  of  peace,  is  one  million  tons  per  annum. 


The  tobacco  fields  are  adorned  with  the  lofty  and 
feathery  palms  which  distinguish  the  scenery  and  do 
not  cast  a  harmful  shade.  The  finest  tobacco  planta- 
tions in  the  world  are  those  in  Pinar  del  Rio,  the  west- 
ern province  of  the  Island,  and  the  industry  has  suffered 
from  the  incursion  of  the  insurgents,  who  rode  through 
the  fields  and  enlisted  the  laborers  just  at  the  critical 
season  for  cutting  and  curing  the  leaves,  and  the  Span- 
iards identifying  largely  the  rebellion  with  the  tobacco 
interests,  have  not  hesitated  to  make  their  movements 
also  destructive.  - 


Santiago,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  the  scene  of  the 
Virginius  massacre,  and  the  beauty  of  the  place  is 
referred  to  in  the  farewell  letter  of  the  Cuban  martyr. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  483 

Captain  Fry,  to  his  wife.  The  view  selected  displays 
the  distant  hills  and  waters  and  a  quaint  country  house 
on  a  commanding  point. 


The  vegetation  in  Cuba,  stimulated  by  a  soil  of 
incomparable  riches  and  wet  seasons,  during  which  the 
rain  fall  is  enormous,  and  a  sun  just  fiery  enough  to  be 
invigorating  to  vegetables,  whatever  it  might  be  to  ani- 
mals, prepares  millions  of  ambuscades,  and  the  tree-tops 
are  sometimes  used  because  the  underbrush  is  so  thick 
it  is  difficult  to  aim  at  an  enemy  from  the  ground. 

There  are  many  palms  in  the  Cuban  forests,  and  the 
tendency  of  the  trees  generally  is  to  throw  out  tops 
resembling  spread  umbrellas.  The  insurgents  are  as 
expert  in  preparing  places  from  which  they  can,  in  com- 
parative security,  fire  with  deadly  effect  upon  columns 
of  regulars,  as  ever  the  North  American  Indians  were, 
and  they  have  crafty  ways  of  concealing  themselves 
and  giving  and  taking  warning  that  certain  roads  are 
safe  and  others  perilous. 

The  view  of  a  cell  in  Moro  Castle  is  in  the  nature  of 
news.  The  journalist,  Charles  Michelson,  who  was  con- 
fined there  in  a  case  of  mistaken  identity  on  a  military 
report,  and  released  on  the  intervention  of  Consul- 
General  Williams,  has  a  keen  eye  for  details,  and  was 
able  to  draw  his  surroundings  faithfully.  He  illustrates 
one  of  the  possible  embarrassments  attending  enterprise 
in  seeking  Cuban  intelligence  from  original  sources. 


The  prevalent  stories  of  the  young  King  of  Spain  are 
that  he  is  a  lively  and  self-willed  child  who  improves  in 


484  THE   STORY   OF  CUBA. 

physical  condition  and  bids  fair  to  be  a  strong  man, 
though  born  after  the  death  of  his  father,  who  was  of 
feeble  constitution,  perishing  of  pulmonary  trouble.  His 
mother  is  in  vigorous  health,  and  has  won  the  regard  of 
the  Spaniards  by  her  modesty  and  wholesome  devotion 
to  her  public  and  family  affairs. 

The  resemblance  of  the  boy  king  to  his  mother  is 
evident  in  the  family  group,  and  the  fact  that  he  is  like 
her  is  held  to  be  of  happy  omen.  The  young  king  is, 
therefore,  a  little  Austrian.  The  sisters  are  amiable 
girls  of  a  more  Spanish  type  than  their  brother. 

A  king  squirting  the  garden  hose  on  his  mentor  is  the 
lively  picture  that  a  contemporary  presents  to  us  of  the 
youthful  ruler  of  Spain.  Alfonso  is  now  ten  years  old. 
In  six  years  he  will  come  of  age,  and  will  assume  abso- 
lute control  of  the  nation,  which  is  now  fighting  to 
retain  a  colony  as  it  has  never  had  to  fight  before. 

Maria  Christina,  queen  regent,  the  mother  of  Al- 
fonso, is  a  graceful  and  elegant  woman,  who  is  bring- 
ing up  her  boy  and  his  two  sisters  with  the  best  possible 
home  influences.  Alfonso  will  be  educated  as  few 
Spanish  rulers  have  been.  And  he  is  not  backward  in 
learning  either.  His  spirit  is  proud,  fiery,  and  quick, 
and  his  mental  activity  in  studies  has  to  be  restrained 
rather  than  encouraged. 

Besides  squirting  the  garden  hose  and  listening  to 
reports  about  the  Cuban  rebellion,  he  rides  the  bicycle, 
and  disports  himself  much  as  do  other  boys  of  his  age. 

He  has  passed  the  ordeal  of  his  first  bull  fight.  The 
custom  of  Spain  prescribes,  as  a  part  of  the  education  of 
its  Christian  monarch,  attendance  on  bull  fights.  The 
queen  regent,  who  has  a  horror  of  these  barbaric  exhibi- 
tions, put  off  her  son's  initiation  as    long  as  possible. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY,  485 

The  little  chap  viewed  the  sport  without  betraying  any 
enthusiasm,  and  departed  without  rewarding  the  suc- 
cessful matador,  in  accordance  with  custom.  And  some 
Spaniards,  therefore,  fear  that  he  may  bring  discredit 
on  his  order  and  race  by  taking  a  stand  against  the 
national  sport  when  he  grows  to  man's  estate. 

Recently  the  boy  king  received  a  letter,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  communion,  from  his  godfather,  the 
Pope.  He  decided  to  answer  it  himself.  He  made  six 
draughts,  tearing  each  up  in  succession,  before  he  was 
satisfied.  He  gave  the  final  one  to  his  mother  to  cor- 
rect, and  she  found  but  one  error,  a  misspelled  word.  It 
was  sent  off  to  the  Pope. 

King  Alfonso  XIII. 's  jealousy  of  his  rights  is  illus- 
trated by  his  reply  to  a  youthful  friend,  who  said  to  his 
monarch : 

"  '  I  am  going  to  England.' 

"  '  How  is  that  ? '  asked  Alfonso. 

"  '  My  papa  has  been  made  ambassador  in  London  by 
Canovas  de  Castillo,'  was  the  answer. 

"  '  It  is  unheard  of,'  retorted  the  miniature  ruler,  '  that 
I  was  not  consulted  about  this.' " 


The  Valley  of  the  Yumuri,  which  is  situated  in  the 
province  and  near  the  city  of  Matanzas,  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.  It  is  a  com- 
bination of  mountains  and  ocean  inlets  and  a  river,  and 
a  broad  plain  of  exquisite  loveliness,  and  it  is  the  scene 
of  many  romantic  stories  and  much  pathetic  history. 


The  cocoanut  palm  is  a  glorious  tree,  immensely  rich 
in  leaves  and  fruit.     It  grows  wild  in  the  Island  and 


C— 28 


486  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  green  nuts  each  contain  about  a  quart  of  palatable 
and  nutritious  water.  As  they  get  ripe  the  shell  is 
hard  and  brown  and  the  water  precipitates  its  sweet- 
ness, forming  the  white  nutty  pulp,  with  a  little  milk  in 
the  centre,  that  the  American  boys  and  girls  know  so 
well,  and  of  which  the  cocoa  of  commerce  is  made. 


There  are  pictures  that  cannot  be  painted  with  the 
brush,  but  a  poet's  pen  may  impart  their  tints  and  out- 
lines and  atmosphere.  The  most  exquisite  examples 
are  found  in  an  old  volume  on  the  United  States  and 
Cuba,  by  James  M.  Phillippo,  London. 

"  The  splendor  of  the  early  dawn  in  Cuba,  as  in  the 
tropical  islands  in  its  vicinity,  has  been  referred  to. 
The  whole  sky  is  often  so  resplendent  that  it  is  difficult 
to  determine  where  the  orb  of  day  will  appear.  Small 
fleecy  clouds  are  often  seen  floating  on  the  north  wind, 
and  as  they  hover  over  the  mountains  and  meet  the 
rays  of  the  sun,  are  changed  into  liquid  gold,  and  a  hun- 
dred intensely  vivid  dyes  more  splendid  than  the  tints 
of  the  rainbow.  During  the  cooler  months  the  morn- 
ings are  delightful  until  about  ten  o'clock,  the  air  soon 
after  dawn  becoming  agreeably  elastic,  and  so  trans- 
parent that  distant  objects  appear  as  if  delineated  upon 
the  bright  surface  of  the  air  ;  the  scenery  everywhere, 
especially  when  viewed  from  an  eminence,  is  indescrib- 
ably rich  and  glowing ;  the  tops  of  the  rising  grounds, 
and  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  are  radiant  with  a 
flood  of  light ;  while  the  vapor  is  seen  creeping  along 
the  valleys,  here  concealing  the  entrance  to  some  beau- 
tiful glen,  and  there  wreathing  itself  fantastically  around 
a  tall  spire  or  groves  of  palm-trees,  that  mark  the  site  of 
a  populous  village. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  487 

"The  finest  and  most  gorgeous  sunsets  occur  in  the 
West  Indian  Archipelago  during  the  rainy  seasons. 
The  sky  is  then  sublimely  mantled  with  gigantic  masses 
of  cloud,  glowing  with  a  thousand  gorgeous  dyes,  and 
seeming  to  collect  at  the  close  of  day  as  though  to 
form  a  couch  for  the  sun's  repose.  In  these  he  sinks, 
flooding  them  with  glory,  touching  both  heavens  and 
earth  with  gold  and  amber  brightness  long  after  he  has 
flung  his  beams  across  the  other  hemisphere,  or  per- 
haps half  revealing  himself  through  gauge-like  clouds 
— a  crimson  sphere  at  once  rayless  and  of  portentous 
size. 

"The  azure  arch,  which  by  an  optical  illusion  limits 
our  view  on  every  side,  seems  here,  and  in  the  tropics 
generally,  higher  than  in  England — even  higher  than  in 
Italy.  Here  is  seen,  in  a  perfection  compared  to  which 
even  Italian  heavens  are  vapid  and  uninteresting,  that 
pure,  serene,  boundless  sky — that  atmosphere  of  clear 
blue  or  vivid  red,  which  so  much  contributes  to  enrich 
the  pencil  of  Claude  Lorraine.  The  atmosphere  of 
Cuba,  as  everywhere  within  the  tropics,  except  when 
the  high  winds  prevail,  is  so  unpolluted,  so  thin,  so  elas- 
tic, so  dry,  so  serene,  and  so  almost  inconceivably 
transparent  and  brilliant,  that  every  object  is  distinct 
and  clearly  defined  as  if  cut  out  of  the  clear  blue  sky. 
All  travelers  agree  in  praising  the  calm  depths  of  the 
intensely  blue  and  gloriously  bright  skies  of  inter-trop- 
ical latitudes.  In  the  temperate  zone,  it  is  estimated 
that  about  i  ,000  stars  are  visible  to  the  naked  eye  at 
one  time  ;  but  here,  from  the  increased  elevation  and 
wider  extent  of  the  vault,  owing  to  the  clearness  of  the 
atmosphere,  especially  as  seen  from  a  high  mountain 
chain,  the  number  is  greatly  augmented.     If,  however, 


488  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

these  luminaries  may  not  be  seen  here  in  greater  num- 
bers, they  certainly  shine  with  greater  brilliancy.  The 
different  constellations  are  indeed  so  greatly  magnified 
as  to  give  the  impression  that  the  power  of  the  eye  is  in- 
creased. Venus  rises  like  a  little  moon,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  greater  casts  a  distinguishable  shadow.  .  .  . 
"  The  Milky  Way,  which  in  the  temperate  zone  has  the 
appearance  of  a  luminous  phosphorescent  cloud,  and, 
as  is  well  known,  derives  its  brightness  from  the  dif- 
fused light  of  myriads  of  stars  condensed  into  so  small 
space  that  fifty  thousand  of  them  are  estimated  to  pass 
across  the  disc  of  the  telescope  in  an  hour,  is  here  seen 
divided  into  constellations,  and  the  whole  galaxy  is  of 
so  dazzling  a  whiteness  as  to  make  it  resemble  a  pure 
flame  of  silvery  light  thrown  across  the  heavens,  turn- 
ing the  atmosphere  into  a  kind  of  green  transparency. 
Besides  this,  there  are  vast  masses  of  stellar  nebulae  of 
indefinite  diversity  and  form — oval,  oblate^  elliptical,  as 
well  as  of  different  degrees  of  density,  diffused  over 
the  firmament,  and  discoverable  through  a  common 
telescope,  all  novel  to  an  inhabitant  of  temperate  climes, 
and  recalling  the  exclamation  of  the  psalmist:  'The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God.  .  .  .  the  firma- 
ment showeth  forth  his  handiwork.' 

"  'The  stars 
.  Are  elder  scripture,  writ  by  God's  own  hand, 
Scripture  authentic,  uncorrupt  by  man.' 

"  An  interesting  phenomenon  sometimes  occurs  here 
as  in  other  islands  of  the  West  Indies,  which  was  long 
supposed  to  be  seen  only  in  the  eastern  hemisphere.  A 
short  time  before  sunrise  or  sunset,  a  flush  of  strong^ 
white  light,  like  that  of  the  Aurora  Borealis,  extends 


CUBAN   ATTACK  ON  FORT  NEAR  VUEIyTAS 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  49 1 

from  the  horizon  a  considerable  way  up  the  zenith,  and 
so  resembles  the  dawn  as  to  prove  greatly  deceptive  to 
a  stranger.  As  he  watches  the  luminous  track  he  sees 
it  decrease  instead  of  becoming  more  vivid,  and  at 
length  totally  disappear,  leaving  the  heavens  nearly  as 
dark  as  previous  to  its  appearance.  This  is  the  zodi- 
acal light. " 

NIVERsixx 


492  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

STATISTICAL    AND    DOCUMENTARY. 

Organization  of  the  Cuban  Army,  as  reported  by  General  Gomez — Com- 
merce of  Spain  with  her  Colonies — The  Authentic  Figures  of  the 
Population  of  the  Island,  Showing  the  Proportion  of  Whites  and 
Colored  People — Official  Cuban  Letters  and  Proclamations. 

The  organization,  strength,  coior,  leadership  and  loca- 
tion of  the  Cuban  armies,  as  stated  on  good  authority,  is 
of  positive  and  general  interest.  In  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives Hon.  R.  R.  Hitt,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  said  :  In  Matanzas  there  are  8,900 ; 
in  Havana,  8,160;  in  Pinar  del  Rio,  5,562  ;  and  in  the 
armies  of  Generals  Gomez  and  Maceo,  16,700.  The 
total  is  60,722  men.     I  will  insert  the  whole  statement: 

CUBAN    ARMY    OF    OCCUPATION. 
Province  of  Santiago  de  Cuba. 

Maj.-Gen.  Jos6  Maceo  (black) 3,000 

Brig.-Gen.  Perico  Perez  (white) 2,000 

Brig. -Gen.  Matias  Vega  (white) 1,000 

Gen.  Augustin  Coureco  (mulatto) 1,600 

Gen.  Carnelio  Rojas  (white) 600 

Gen.  Jos6  Rabi  (Indian) 1,200 

Gen.  Manuel  Capoti  (white) 800 

Col.  Felix  Ruen  (mulatto) 800 

Col.  Francisco   Delgado  (white) 400 

Col.  Carthagena  (black) 500 

Col.  Heabovaria  (white) ., .   400 

Col.  Joaquin   Planao  (white) 200 

Col.  Remegio  Mariero  (white) 200 

Col.  Rodrigues  (Spaniard)  (white) 400 

Col.  Salvo  Reos  (black) 600 

Col.  Pedro  Popa  (black) 200 

t  

Total 13,900 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  493 

•  Province  of  Puerto  Principe. 

Maj.-Gen.  Mayla  Rodrigues  (white) i ,500 

Brig.-Gen.  Lope  Recio  (white) 1,000 

Total .     2,500 

This  force  serves  as  escort  to  the  officials  of  the  Cu- 
ban Repubhc,  who,  Hke  the  first  congresses  of  America, 
as  after  the  burning  of  Washington  in  the  war  of  1812, 
are  compelled  to  move,  by  the  exigencies  of  war,  but 
they  remain  within  a  zone  about  equal  to  the  area  of 
our  state  of  Delaware.  The  Marquis  of  Santa  Lucia, 
president  ;  the  vice-president,  Bartolo  Masso;  minister 
of  war,  Roloff ;  minister  of  treasury,  Pinar  ;  and  all  oth- 
ers are  white. 

Province  of  Santa  Clara. 

Maj.-Gen.  Serafin  Sanchez  (white) 2,000 

Col.  Roban  (white) 600 

Col.  Rego  (white) 1,200 

Col.  Cortena  (white) 300 

Col.  Felipe  Toledo  (white) 200 

Col.  Lino  Perez  (white). 300 

Lieut. -Col.  Leon  Cio  Vedal  (white) 200 

Lieut. -Col.  Sixto  Roque  (white) 200 

.Total 5.000 

Province  of  Matanzas.         , 

Maj.-Gen.   Francisco  Carillo  (white) 3,000 

Brig.-Gen.  Lacret  (white) 1,500 

Gen.  Pancho   Perez  (white) 1,500 

Col.  Clotilde  Garcia  (black) 400 

Col.  Joseph  Roque  (white) 800 

Col.  Oulet  (white) 200 

Col.  Mori jon  (mulatto) 200 

Col.  Demas  Martinez  (black) 300 

Col.  (Alfred  Godoy)  "  El  Inglesito  "  (white) 500 

Col.  Edward  Garcia  (white) 400 

Total 8,800 


494  "^^^  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Habana  Province. 

Maj.-Gen.  Jos6  Maria  Aguirre  (white) 2,000 

Gen.  Rafael  de  Cardenas  (white) 2,500 

Col.  Juan  Masse  Parra  (white) 1,500 

Col.  Castillo  (white) 1,200 

Col.  Aranguerena  (white) 300 

Maj.  Villanueva  (black) 200 

Col.  Diaz  Hernandez  (white) 200 

Lieut. -Col.  Corbo  (white) 60 

Lieut. -Col.  Palacios  (black) 200 

Total 8,160 

Pinar  del  Rio  Province. 

Maj.-Gen.  Dioniosio  Gil  (white) 1,000 

Gen.  Perico  Diaz  (black) 800 

Col.  Perico  Delgado  (white) 600 

Col.  Rafael  Socorro  (white) 200 

Col.  Frederico  Alphonso  (white)  (recruits) 62 

Col.  Olivia  (white) 300 

Col.  Miguel  Laso  (white) 800 

Col.  Estaban  Varona  (white) i, 500 

Maj.  Castillo  (black) 800 

Total 5, 562 

ARMIES    OF   INVASION. 

General-in-chief  Maximo  Gomez  (white) 5,000 

Lieut. -Gen.  Antonio  Maceo  (mulatto) ,. .  .  .  5,000 

Brig.-Gen.  Quinton  Bandera  (black) 2,500 

Brig.  -Gen.  Jos6  Miro  (Spaniard,   white) i  ,000 

Brig.-Gen.  Bruno  Zayas  (white) 1,000 

Gen.  Estabo  Tamayo  (white) 600 

Col.  Nunez  (white) 600 

Col.  Cayito  Alvarez  (white) 400 

Col.  Roberto  Bermudez  (white) 600 

Total  army  invasion 16,700 

Total  army  occupation -. 44,022 

Total  of  all  forces  in  arms 60,722 

This  is  a  table  of  officers  commanding  operating  col- 
umns.    Each  of  their  separate  columns  is  regularly  offi- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


495 


cered,  as  in  the  United  States  army,  the  tables  showing 
color  and  rank  : 


Officers, 

No. 

Color. 

White. 

Black. 

Mulatto. 

Indian. 

24 

34 

4 

2 

19 

27 

3 

I 

3 

5 

I 
I 

I 
2 

I 

Total 

64 

50 

10 

3. 

I 

In  ranks  bearing  arms,  40  per  cent,  black  and  60  per  cent,  white. 

So  simple  a  matter  as  an  official  table  showing  the 
commerce  of  Spain  with  her  colonies,  is  instructive  : 

COMMERCE  OF  SPAIN  WITH   HER  COLONIES. 
During  1894  :  Pesetas.* 

Importations  in  Cuba  from  Spain 37,463,110 

Exportation  from  Cuba  to  Spain 117,061,881 

Difference  in  favor  to  export 79.598,771 

Commerce  with  Porto  Rico: 

Importation  in  the  Island 21,580,125 

Exportation  from  Spain 28,678,899 

Difference  in  favor  of  export 7.098, 774 

Commerce  with  the  Philippine  Isles: 

Importations  from  the  archipelago 17,994,838 

Exportation  from  Spain 28,581,122 

Difference  in  favor  of  export 10,586,284 

The  principal  articles  Cuba  sends  to  Spain  are: 

Sugar,   12  millions  pesetas;  leaf  tobacco,   money  in  silver,  cocoa,  cigars,  and 
cigarettes. 
What  Spain  sends: 

Cotton  fabrics 21,000,000  pesetas. 

Shoas 20,000,000       " 

Wine 8,000,000       " 

Oil,  soap,  oats,  wheat,  flour 3,000,000      " 


*  Twenty  cents. 


496 


THE  STORY   OF   CUBA. 


Preserved  foods,   candles,   woolen  goods,   paper  for  cigarettes  and  wrapping, 

garbangos,  sausage,  and  chocolate. 

Porto  Rico  sends  chiefly: 

Coffee 12,000,000 

Sugar 6,000,000 

Tobacco 1,000,000 

Spain  to  Porto  Rico: 

Fabrics 9,000,000 

Shoes 3,500,000 

Soap,  candles,  and  oil. 

Constantly  objections  are  urged  to  the  release  of  Cuba 
from  Spanish  servitude,  on  the  ground  that  the  majority 
of  the  people  are  colored.  The  tables  following  give 
the  conclusive  answer  to  this  line  of  observation : 

SYNOPSIS  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  CENSUSES  OF  THE  ISLAND  OF  CUBA 

FROM  1768  TO  1879. 


Years. 


1768. 

1774- 
1787. 
1792. 
1804. 
1810. 
1817. 
1819. 
1825. 
1827. 
1830. 
1 841. 
1846. 
1849. 
1850. 
1852. 
1855- 
1857- 
1859. 
i860. 
1862. 
1867. 
1869. 
1874. 
1877. 
1879. 


Whites. 


109,415 
96,440 
96,610 

133.553 
234,000 
274,000 
276,689 
239.830 
325,000 
311,051 
332,352 
418,291 

425,769 
457.133 
479,490 
492,879 
498-752 
560,161 

589,777 
632,797 

793.484 
833.157 
797.596 
856,177 
963.175 
965,735 


Colored 
Freedmen, 


22,740 

30.847 

29,217 

55.930 

60,000 

108,600 

119,221 

97,000 

100,000 

106,494 

113,125 

152,838 

149,226 

164,410 

171.733 
169,316 

185,444 

177,824 

175,274 
189,848 

232,433 
248,703 

238,927 
263,420 
272,478 
287,827 


Colored  Slaves. 


Males.        Females.        Total. 


45,000 
28,771 
32,800 
47,330 
75,000 
130,000 

137,115 
135,000 
170,000 
183,290 
208,120 
281,250 
201,011 

199,177 
200,000 

197,425 
222,400 
222,355 
220,999 
224,076 
218,722 
203,412 
217,300 
209,432 
112,192 
89.517 


27,000 

15,562 

17,540 

37,126 

63,000 

87,400 

102,579 

81,203 

120,000 

103,652 

102,098 

155,245 
122,748 
124,720 
122,519 
124,422 
137,589 
149,755 
143,254 
152,708 

151,831 
141,203 

145,988 

117.343 
86,902 
81,570 


72,000 
44.333 
50,340 
84,456 
138,000 
217,400 

239,694 
216,203 
290,000 
286,942 
310,218 
436,495 
323,759 
323.897 
322,519 
321,847 

359.989 
372,110 

364,253 
376,784 
370,553 
344,615 
363,288 

326,775 
199,094 
171,087 


Grand  Totel. 


204,155 
171,620 
176,167 

273,939 
432,000 
600,000 
635,604 

553,033 
715,000 
704,487 

755,695 
1,007,624 

898.754 

945,440 

973,742 

984,042 

1,044,185 

1,110,095 

1,129,304 

1,199,429 

1,396,470 

1,426,475 
1,399,811 
1,446,372 

1,434,747 
1,424,649 


Published  in  No.  3,  Vol,  XI.  of  the  Revista  de  Cuba. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY. 


497 


CENSUS  OF  CUBA,  PUBLISHED  DECEMBER  31.  1887. 

Total  population 1,631,687 

Whites 1,111,303 

Negroes = 520,684 


Provinces. 


Havana 

Pinar  del  Rio.  .  .  . 

Matanzas 

Santa  Clara 

Puerto  Principe.  . 
Santiago  de  Cuba 

Totals 


Whites. 


344.417 
167,160 
143.169 
244  345 
54.232 
157,980 


1,111,303 


Colored. 


107,511 

58,731 
116,401 

109,777 

13.557 

"4,339 


520,684 


Total. 


451,928 
225,891 
259,578 
354,122 
67,789 
272,379 


1,631,687 


Per  ct.  of 
Col'd  Race. 


26 
26 

45 
31 
20 
42 


Calculating  as  the  average  percent,  of  colored,  ai. 


Provinces. 


Havana 

Matanzas 

Pinar  del  Rio.  .  .  . 
Puerto  Principe.  . 

Santa  Clara 

Santiago  de  Cuba 

Totals 


Inhabitants. 


451,928 
259.578 
225,891 
67,789 
354.122 

272,379 


1,631,687 


Square 
Kilometres. 


8,610 

8,486 

14,967 

32,341 
23,083 

35,119 


122,606 


Density. 


52.49 
30.59 
15.09 

2.10 
15.34 

7.75 


13-31 


The  papers  foUowingf  have  a  vigor  and  accuracy  of 
application  that  is  acceptable  in  confirmation  of  their 
authenticity  : 


PROCLAMATION    OF    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    CUBA. 

[Received  by  the  Junta  in  New  York  from  Seiior  Salvador  Cisneros, 
President  of  the  Republic  of  Cuba.] 

Nothing  is  more  difficult  at  the  outset  of  an  enter- 
prise than  to  maintain  it  uniformly  deserving  the 
world's  approval.     The  people  of  Cuba  are  now.  face  to 


498  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

face  with  such  a  difficulty.  They  were  born  under  the 
rule  of  a  nation  universally  regarded  as  tyrannical  and 
ambitious.  They  have  never  learned  the  lesson  of  gov- 
erning themselves.  Now,  in  their  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence, they  have  not  only  to  maintain  the  stress  of 
warfare,  but  also  to  learn  how  to  govern  themselves. 
Being  a  people  of  advanced  ideas,  they  naturally  desire 
a  democratic  government,  created  of  the  people,  by 
the  people,  and  for  the  people.  The  people  are  the  only 
rulers.  Their  wishes  are  above  those  of  the  men  com- 
posing the  government,  and  the  latter  must  obey  the 
constitution  adopted  by  the  assembly  of  representa- 
tives. 

Those  who  now  form  the  provisional  government  of 
the  new  republic,  actuated  by  true  patriotism,  accept 
this  obligation.  They  know  that  to  establish  a  nation 
worthy  of  this  age,  and  worthy  of  the  heroic  struggle 
of  1868,  the  people  must  be  the  only  sovereign,  and  that 
such  is  the  desire  of  all  Cubans.  For  this  reason,  the 
provisional  government,  obedient  to  the  constitution, 
and  actuated  by  the  exactions  of  common  humanity,  is 
compelled  to  permit  a  few  exceptions  to  our  last  orders, 
which  exceptions  we  shall  now  explain,  in  order  that 
our  countrymen,  our  enemies,  and  the  world  at  large 
may  know  the  honesty  of  our  course. 

The  revolution,  as  is  the  case  with  all  revolutions 
arising  from  popular  indignation,  had  at  its  inception 
no  other  rulers  than  those  dictated  by  the  few  military 
chiefs  then  in  arms.  A  uniform  method  of  procedure 
was  impossible,  on  account  of  the  different  lines  of  ac- 
tion adopted  by  each  province  in  rebellion.  Among 
the  dispensations  of  some  of  these  chiefs  are  the  special 
permissions  they  gave  to  a  few  sugar  planters  to  con- 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  499 

tinue  grinding  this  year.  To-day  the  revolution  and  its 
government  permits  no  planters  to  grind,  but  they  re- 
spect the  dispensation  above  referred  to,  in  accordance 
with  Article  21  of  our  Constitution,  which  reads,  "All 
the  debts  and  promises  of  the  military  chiefs,  from  the 
beginning  of  this  war  to  the  time  in  which  this  Consti- 
tution is  adopted,  shall  be  respected  as  laws  by  the  pro- 
visional government." 

The  government  obeys  the  constitution,  and  this, 
then,  is  the  only  reason  why  some  sugar  estates  are 
allowed  to  work  during  the  present  season  ;  the  per- 
mission is  not,  as  our  enemies  say,  the  result  of  force  of 
arms.  The  proprietors  of  these  exempted  estates  have 
paid  war  contributions  to  our  military  chiefs,  and  upon 
no  other  estates  is  work  possible. 

In  the  beginning,  when  the  revolution  had  no  other 
government  than  that  of  the  military  chiefs,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief prohibited  the  importation  of  food  by 
towns  occupied  by  the  enemy.  Now  the  provisional 
government,  considering  that  families  of  non-combat- 
ants might  become  the  victims  of  such  a  measure,  has 
abolished  it,  and  we  allow  the  entrance  into  Spanish 
towns  of  some  articles  of  commerce  upon  payment  of  an 
import  duty. 

Another  measure  adopted  at  the  beginning  of  the 
revolution,  and  now  accepted  by  us,  is  that  permitting- 
the  burning  of  buildings  used  by  the  enemy  as  forts. 
It  is  false  that  we  are  inspired  in  this  by  personal  feel- 
ings of  revenge,  as  the  Spanish  government  says  we 
are.  It  is  only  a  war  measure.  We  are  uniformly  hu- 
mane. We  set  Spanish  prisoners  free,  and  despite  the 
sanguinary  conduct  of  the  enemy  toward  peaceful 
people  and  Cuban  prisoners,  we  shall  not  retaliate. 


500 


THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 


Nor  do  we  accept  bandits  in  our  ranks.  Those 
bands  which  were  in  existence  before  the  revolution 
began,  and  came  to  us  volunteering  to  fight  for  Cuban 
libeirty,  we  have  accepted,  and  will  permit  to  remain 
with  us  as  long  as  their  conduct  is  honorable.  •  Others, 
who  intended  to  dishonor  the  name  of  Cuba's  soldiery, 
were  promptly  punished.  There  are  no  bandits  to-day 
in  the  Cuban  camps,  as  there  were  in  Cuba  in  the  days 
of  Spanish  rule. 

To  be  known,  therefore,  to  all  Cubans,  to  the  enemy, 
and  to  the  world  at  large,  that  a  few  sugar  estates  are 
grinding  their  crop  at  present,  because  we  respect  their 
contracts  with  our  military  chiefs,  and  because  they 
pay  us  high  taxes.  Thus  we  prove  our  strength,  and  if 
unhappily,  our  forces,  to-day  victorious,  should  ulti- 
mately be  vanquished,  we  shall  have  the  courage  to  des- 
troy all  sugar  estates  rather  than  permit  the  continuance 
of  Spanish  tyranny  in  Cuba.  Let  Cuba  perish  if  she 
cannot  obtain  her  independence. 

Salvador  Cisneros, 
President  of  the  Republic 

Ciego  de  Najasa,  January,  1896. 

LETTER    FROM    GOMEZ. 
[Received  by  the  Cuban  Delegate  in  New  York.] 

Sagua,  March  19,  1896. 

Thomas  Estrada  Palma,  Delegate  of  the  Cuban  Re- 
public. 
Dear  Friend :  The  war  continues  more  active  and 
hard,  on  account  of  the  fierce  character  which  General 
Weyler  has  given  to  it.  Our  wounded  are  followed, 
and  assassinated  cruelly  ;  he  who  has  the  misfortune  to 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  5OI 

fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  troops  perishes  with- 
out fail.  The  peaceful  country  people  only  find  death 
and  dishonor.  Cuba  to-day,  as  in  1868,  only  presents 
pools  of  blood  dried  by  conflagrations.  Our  enemies 
are  burning  the  houses  to  deprive  us,  according  to  them, 
of  our  quarters  for  spring.  We  will  never  use  reprisals, 
for  we  understand  that  the  revolution  will  never  need 
to  triumph  by  being  cruel  and  sanguinary.  We  will  go 
on  with  this  war,  the  ultimate  result  of  which  you  need 
not  worry  about,  with  success  for  the  arms  of  the  repub- 
lic. We  fight  when  convenient  to  us  against  an  enemy 
tired  out  and  without  faith. 

My  plans  are  well  understood  by  my  subordinates, 
and  each  one  knows  what  to  do.  Give  us  cartridges, 
so  that  our  soldiers  can  fight,  and  you  can  depend  that 
in  the  spring  campaign  the  enemy's  army  will  be  greatly 
reduced,  and  it  will  be  necessary  for  Spain  to  send 
another  army,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be 
rash  to  say  that  perhaps  Spain  has  not  the  money  with 
which  to  do  it.  We  have  a  great  military  advantage 
over  the  enemy  in  the  incapacity  of  the  majority  of 
Weyler's  generals.  The  false  official  reports  of  sup- 
posed victories  with  which  they  cynically  pretend  to 
deceive  themselves,  their  government  and  the  world, 
contribute  to  the  speedy  triumph  of  the  revolution. 
No  human  work,  which  has  for  a  base  falseness  and 
infamy,  can  be  either  firm  or  lasting.  Everything  that 
Spain  orders  and  sends  to  this  land,  that  she  has  drenched 
with  the  blood  of  her  own  children,  serves  only  to  ruin  her 
power.  And  no  man  so  well  chosen  as  General  Weyler 
to  represent,  in  these  times  and  in  America,  the  Spain 
of  Philip  II. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  recogni- 


502 


THE  STORY  OP  CUBA. 


tion  of  belligerency  by  the  American  government ;  this 
would  be  very  advantageous  to  us,  and  is  only  justice, 
but,  as  when  we  rose  against  tyranny,  we  only  counted 
on  the  strength  of  our  arms  and  the  firm  resolution  of 
victory,  we  follow  our  march  unconcerned,  satisfied 
that  what  is  to  happen  will  happen. 

Your  friend, 

Maximo  Gomez. 

a  despatch   from  maceo. 

In  Camp  in  Cuzco  Hills,  Pinar  Del  Rio  Province, 

Cuba,  April  14,  1896. 

W.  R.  Hearst,  J ournal,  New  York : 

Responding  to  the  request  of  your  correspondent,  I 
have  to  say  that  I  consider  the  battle  of  last  Saturday, 
when  my  troops  put  to  flight  the  Alfonso  XIII.  bat- 
talion, the  most  important  accomplishment  of  the  Cuban 
army  during  the  war,  because  it  taught  the  men  confi- 
dence in  themselves,  and  also  because  it  gave  the  Span- 
ish to  understand  that  they  have  no  contemptible  foe 
to  deal  with.  The  route  of  that  battalion  will  make 
cowards  of  the  common  Spanish  soldiers  who  may  be 
sent  to  fight  us  in  the  future.  Since  the  battle  my  sol- 
diers have  been  filled  with  desire  to  meet  the  men  on 
trocha  in  combat.  I  can  hardly  restrain  them,  and  I 
feel  satisfied  that  if  it  was  my  policy  to  attack  the 
trocha  at  this  time,  the  Spanish  army  would  be  cut  to 
pieces. 

Nothing  that  I  could  say  about  the  kindness  of  the 
American  papers,  especially  the  Journal,  in  the  cause  of 
Cuban  liberty  could  adequately  express  the  gratitude 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  503 

that  fills  my  heart  and  the  heart  of  every  true  Cuban. 
You  have  armed  the  weak,  and  made  us  strong  to  go 
on  to  victory.  Freedom  for  Cuba  was  never  closer  to 
realization  than  it  is  now.  Your  correspondent  informs 
me  that  doubts  have  been  upon  the  victory  at  Pinar  del 
Rio.  Let  me  assure  the  Americans  that  we  struck  that 
city  a  heavy  blow,  putting  the  troops  to  flight,  burning 
many  houses,  and  capturing  enough  arms  to  place  wea- 
pons in  the  hands  of  many  of  my  men  who  had  none 

before. 

(Signed)  Antonio  Maceo. 

Captain-General  Weyler's  idea  of  the  limitation  of  the 
liberty  of  the  press,  according  to  his  latest  order  on  the 
subject,  will  interest  the  foreign  newspapers,  for  jour- 
nalism has  become  so  expansive  that  in  war  time,  in  any 
part  of  the  world  hereafter,  it  is  likely  to  strike  a  great 
deal  of  disputed  territory. 

DECREE. 

Don  Valeriano  Weyler  y  Nicolau,  Marquis  of  Tene- 
rife,  governor-general,  captain-general  of  the  Island  of 
Cuba,  and  general-in-chief  of  this  army. 

Under  the  authority  of  the  law  of  public  order,  dated 
the  23rd  of  April,  1870. 

I  Order  and  Command, 

ist.  No  newspaper  shall  publish  any  news  concern- 
ing the  war  which  is  not  authorized  by  the  staff  of- 
ficers. 

2nd.  Neither  shall  be  published  any  telegraphic  com- 
munications of  a  political  character  without  the  author- 
ity given  by  the  secretary  of  the  governor-general  in 

C — 29 


504  THE  SrORY  OF  CUBA. 

Havana,  or  by  the  civil  governors   in   the  other  prov- 
inces. 

3rd.  It  is  hereby  forbidden  to  publish  any  editorials, 
or  other  articles  or  illustrations,  which  may  directly  or 
indirectly  tend  to  lessen  the  prestige  of  the  mother- 
country,  the  army,  or  the  authorities,  or  to  exaggerate 
the  forces  and  the  importance  of  the  insurrection,  or  in 
any  way  to  favor  the  latter,  or  to  cause  unfounded 
alarm,  or  excite  the  feelings  of  the  people. 

4th.  The  infractions  of  this  decree,  not  included  in 
Articles  first  and  sixth  of  the  decree  of  February  i6th 
last,  will  make  the  offenders  liable  to  the  penalties 
named  in  Article  36,  of  the  law  of  the  23rd  of  April, 
1870. 

5th.  All  persons  referred  to  in  Article  14  of  the  Penal 
Code  of  the  Peninsula,  which  is  in  force  in  this  Island, 
will  be  held  responsible  for  said  infractions  in  the  same 
order  as  established  by  the  said  Article. 

6th.  Whenever  a  newspaper  has  twice  incurred  the 
penalty  of  said  offense,  and  shall  give  cause  for  a  third 
penalty,  it  may  then  be  suppressed. 

7th.  The  civil  governors  are  in  charge  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  this  decree,  and  against  their  resolutions,  which 
must  be  always  well  founded,  the  interested  parties  may 
appeal  within  the  twenty-four  hours  following  their  noti- 
fication. 

Valeriano  Weyler. 

Havana,  April  27,  1896. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  505 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

NATURAL    RICHES    AND    NATIVE    CHARMS    OF    CUBA. 

The  Cultivation  of  Sugar  Cane — Picture  of  a  Cuban  Garden — The 
Southern  Cross — Cuba  as  Eden — Sugar  Making — Tobacco  Raising 
— The  Forests  and  Fruits— Beauty  of  the  Nights — Cuba  Compared 
with  New  York — The  Precious  Woods — Mountains  and  Rivers — 
Solid  Encyclopagdical  Information — The  Cry  of  a  Poor  Man. 

The  cultivation  of  suo^ar  cane  has  been  the  most  inter- 
esting-,  because  pecuhar  and  important,  of  the  industries 
of  the  Island,  and  there  is  a  most  pleasing  account  of 
it  in  "  Cuba  Past  and  Present,"  written  by  Maturin 
Ballou,  in  1885,  when  cane  culture  was  in  its  glory,  mid- 
way between  the  two  wars,  and  this  picture  is  from  his 
gallery. 

"  Sugar  cane  is  cultivated  like  Indian  corn,  which  it 
also  resembles  in  appearance.  It  is  first  planted  in 
rows,  not  in  hills,  and  must  be  hoed  and  weeded  until 
it  gets  high  enough  to  shade  its  roots.  Then  it  may  be 
left  to  itself  until  it  reaches  maturity.  This  refers  to 
the  first  laying  out  of  a  plantation,  which  will  after- 
wards continue  fruitful  for  years,  by  very  simple  pro- 
cesses of  renewal.  When  thoroughly  ripe,  the  cane  is 
of  a  light  golden  yellow,  streaked  here  and  there  with 
red.  The  top  is  dark  green,  with  long,  narrow  leaves 
depending,  very  much  like  those  of  the  corn  stalk,  from 
the  centre  of  which  shoots  upward  a  silvery  stem,  a 
couple  of  feet  in  height,  and  from  its  tip  grows  a  white 
fringed  plume  of  a  delicate  lilac  hue.     The  efifect  of  a 


5o6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

large  field  at  Its  maturity,  lying  under  a  torrid  sun,  and 
gently  yielding  to  the  breeze,  is  very  fine,  a  picture  to 
live  in  the  memory  ever  after. 

"  In  the  competition  between  the  products  of  beet-root 
sugar  and  that  from  sugar  cane,  the  former  controls  the 
market,  because  it  can  be  produced  at  a  cheaper  rate, 
besides  which  its  production  is  stimulated  by  nearly  all 
of  the  European  states,  through  the  means  of  liberal 
subsidies  both  to  the  farmer  and  to  the  manufacturer. 
Beet  sugar,  however,  does  not  possess  so  high  a  per- 
centage of  true  saccharine  matter  as  the  product  of  the 
cane,  the  latter  seeming  to  be  nature's  most  direct  mode 
of  supplying  us  with  the  article.  The  Cuban  planters 
have  one  advantage  over  all  other  sugar  cane  produc- 
ing countries,  in  the  great  and  inexhaustible  fertility  of 
the  soil  of  the  Island.  For  instance,  one  to  two  hogs- 
heads of  sugar  to  the  acre  is  considered  a  good  yield  in 
Jamaica,  but  in  Cuba  three  hogsheads  are  the  average. 
Fertilizing  of  any  sort  is  rarely  employed  in  the  cane- 
fields,  while  in  beet-farming  it  is  the  principal  agent  of 
success.  Though  the  modern  machinery,  as  lately 
adopted  on  the  plantations,  is  very  expensive,  still  the 
result  achieved  by  it  is  so  much  superior  to  that  of  the 
old  methods  of  manufacture,  that  the  small  planters 
are  being  driven  from  the  market.  Slave  labor  cannot 
compete  with  machinery.  The  low  price  of  sugar  ren- 
ders economy  imperative  in  all  branches  of  the  busi- 
ness, in  order  to  leave  a  margin  for  profit. 

"A  planter  informed  the  author  that  he  should  spread 
all  of  his  molasses  upon  the  cane  fields  this  year  as  a  fer- 
tilizer, rather  than  send  it  to  a  distant  market  and  re- 
ceive only  what  it  cost.  He  further  said  that  thousands 
of  acres  of  sugar  cane  would  be  allowed  to  rot  in  the 


THB  PRESIDENT  AND  CABINET  OF  THE  CUBAN  REPUBLIC 

SAI,VADOR  ClSNEROS, 
President. 
SANTIAGO  G.  canizare;s.  SEVERO  PINA, 

Interior.  Agriculture.  ' 

RAFAEL  PORTUONDO.  MARIO  G.  MENOCAU 

Foreigm  Affairs.  War. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  509 

fields  this  season,  as  it  would  cost  more  to  cut,  grind, 
pack,  and  send  it  to  market  than  could  be  realized  for 
the  manufactured  article.  Had  the  price  of  sugar  re- 
mained this  year  at  a  fignre  which  would  afford  the 
planters  a  fair  profit,  it  might  have  been  the  means  of 
tiding  over  the  chasm  of  bankruptcy,  which  has  long 
stared  them  in  the  face,  and  upon  the  brink  of  which 
they  now  stand.  But  with  a  more  than  average  crop, 
both  as  to  quantity  and  quality,  whether  to  gather  it  or 
not  is  a  problem.  Under  these  circumstances  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  say  what  is  to  become,  financially,  of  the  people 
of  Cuba.  Sugar  is  their  great  staple,  but  all  business 
has  been  equally  suppressed  upon  the  Island,  under  the 
bane  of  civil  wars,  extortionate  taxation,  and  oppres- 
sive rule. 

"  The  sugar  cane  yields  but  one  crop  a  year.  There 
are  several  varieties,  but  the  Otaheitan  seems  to  be  the 
most  generally  cultivated.  Between  the  time  when 
enough  of  the  cane  is  ripe  to  warrant  the  getting-up  of 
steam  at  the  grinding-mill,  and  the  time  when  the  heat 
and  the  rain  spoil  its  qualities,  all  the  sugar  for  the 
season  must  be  made  ;  hence  the  necessity  for  great  in- 
dustry on  the  large  estates.  In  Louisiana  the  grinding 
lasts  but  about  eight  weeks.  In  Cuba  it  continues  four 
months.  In  analyzing  the  sugar  produced  on  the  Is- 
land, and  comparing  it  with  that  of  the  mainland — the 
growth  of  Louisiana — chemists  could  find  no  difference 
as  to  the  quality  of  the  true  saccharine  principle  con- 
tained in  each." 

The  delightful  volume  of  Richard  Henry  Dana,  Jr., 
author  of  "Two  Years  Before  the  Mast,"  on  his  vacation 
voyage  to  Cuba  and  back,  gives  an  account  of  sugar 
making,  that  belongs  with  the  cane  cultivation,  and  Mr, 


510  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Dana's  book  has  an  imperishable  beauty  becoming  the 
enchantment  the  Island  weaves  about  the  visitors  who 
travel  from  climes  of  snow  to  climes  of  sun.  Here  is  a 
picture  of  a  Cuban  garden,  that  will  linger  in  the  mem- 
ory, like  the  balm  of  a  breeze  from  the  sea  of  the  Car- 
ibs,  or  the  flavor  of  fruit,  surely  the  same  grown  in 
Eden,  for  the  original  Paradise  must  have  been  far  in 
the  Southland. 

"The  garden  contained  a  remarkable  variety  of  trees, 
including  some  thrifty  exotics.  Here  the  mango,  with 
its  peach-like  foliage,  was  bending  on  the  ground  with 
the  weight  of  its  ripening  fruit  ;  the  alligator-pear  was 
marvelously  beautiful  in  its  full  blossom,  suggesting,  in 
form  of  color, the  passion-flower;  the  soft,  delicate  foliage 
of  the  tamarind  was  like  our  sensitive  plant ;  the  banana 
trees  were  in  full  bearing,  the  deep  green  fruit  (it  is 
ripened  and  turns  yellow  off  the  tree),  being  in  clusters 
of  a  hundred,  more  or  less,  tipped  at  the  same  time  by 
a  single,  pendent,  glutinous  bud,  nearly  as  large  as  a 
pineapple.  The  date  palm,  so  suggestive  of  the  far 
east,  and  the  only  one  we  had  seen  in  Cuba,  was  rep- 
resented by  a  choice  specimen,  imported  in  its  youth. 
There  was  also  the  star-apple  tree,  remarkable  for  its 
uniform  and  graceful  shape,  full  of  the  green  fruit,  with 
here  and  there  a  ripening  specimen  ;  so  also,  was  the 
favorite  zapota  its  rusty-coated  fruit  hanging  in  tempt- 
ing abundance.  From  low,  broad-spreading  trees  de- 
pended the  grape  fruit,  as  large  as  an  infant's  head  and 
yellow  as  gold,  while  the  orange,  lime  and  lemon  trees, 
bearing  blossoms,  green  and  ripe  fruit  all  together,  met 
the  eye  at  every  turn,  and  filled  the  garden  with  fra- 
grance. The  cocoanut  palm,  with  its  tall,  straight  stem 
and  clustering  fruit,    dominated  all  the  rest.     Guava, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  5II 

fig,  custard  apple,   and    bread-fruit   trees,  all    were    in 
bearing. 

"  Our  hospitable  host  plucked  freely  of  the  choicest  for 
the  benefit  of  his  chance  visitors.  Was  there  ever  such 
a  fruit  garden  before,  or  elsewhere  ?  It  told  of  fertility 
of  soil  and  deliciousness  of  climate,  of  care,  judgment, 
and  liberal  expenditure,  all  of  which  combined  had 
turned  these  half  a  dozen  acres  of  land  into  a  Gan 
Eden.  Through  this  orchard  of  Hesperides,  we  were 
accompanied  also  by  the  proprietor's  two  lovely  chil- 
dren, under  nine  years  of  age,  with  such  wealth  of 
promise  in  their  large  black  eyes  and  sweet  faces  as  to 
fix  them  on  our  memory  with  photographic  fidelity. 
Before  leaving  the  garden  we  returned  with  our  intelli- 
gent host  once  more  to  examine  his  beautiful  specimens 
of  bananas,  which,  with  its  sister  fruit, the  plantain,  forms 
so  important  a  staple  of  fruit  in  Cuba  and  throughout 
all  tropical  regions.  It  seems  that  the  female  banana 
tree  bears  more  fruit  than  the  male,  but  not  so  large. 
The  average  clusters  of  the  former  comprise  here  about 
one  hundred,  but  the  latter  rarely  bears  over  sixty  or 
seventy  distinct  specimens  of  the  cucumber-shaped 
product.  From  the  centre  of  its  large,  broad  leaves, 
which  gather  at  the  top,  when  it  has  reached  the  height 
of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  there  springs  forth  a  large 
purple  bud  ten  inches  long,  shaped  like  a  huge  acorn, 
though  more  pointed.  This  cone  hangs  suspended 
from  a  strong  stem,  upon  which  a  leaf  unfolds,  display- 
ing a  cluster  of  young  fruit.  As  soon  as  these  are 
large  enough  to  support  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  the 
chill  of  the  rain,  this  sheltering  leaf  drops  off,  and 
another  unfolds,  exposing  its  little  brood  of  fruit ;  and 
so   the    process    goes    on    until    six  or   eight   rings  of 


512  THE   STORY   OF   CUBA. 

young  bananas  are  started,  forming,  as  we  have  said, 
bunches  numbering  from  seventy  to  a  hundred.  The 
banana  is  a  herbaceous  plant,  and  after  fruiting,  its  top 
dies  ;  but  it  annually  sprouts  up  again  fresh  from  the 
roots.  From  the  unripe  fruit,  dried  in  the  sun,  a  pala- 
table and  nutritious  flour  is  made." 

This  from  Ballou  is  something  to  dream  of  :  "  Nowhere 
on  the  face  of  the  globe  would  well-directed,  intelligent 
labor  meet  with  a  richer  reward,  nowhere  would  repose 
from  labor  be  so  sweet.  The  hour  of  rest  here  sinks 
upon  the  face  of  nature  with  a  peculiar  charm  ;  the 
night  breeze,  in  never  failing  regularity,  comes  with 
its  gentle  wing  to  fan  the  weary  frame,  and  no  danger 
lurks  in  its  breath.  It  has  free  scope  through  the  un- 
glazed  windows,  and  blowing  fresh  from  the  broad 
surface  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  it  bears  a  goodly  tonic  to 
the  system.  Beautifully  blue  are  the  heavens  and  fes- 
tally bright  the  stars  of  a  tropical  night,  where  familiar 
constellations  greet  us  with  brighter  radiance  and  new 
ones  charm  the  eye  with  their  novelty.  Pre-eminent  in 
brilliancy  among  them  is  the  Southern  Cross,  a  galaxy 
of  stars  that  never  greets  us  in  the  North.  At  mid- 
night its  glittering  framework  stands  erect.  That  sol- 
emn hour  past,  the  cross  declines.  How  glorious  the 
night  where  such  a  heavenly  sentinel  indicates  the 
watches !  '  How  often  have  we  heard  our  guides  ex- 
claim in  the  savannas  of  Venezuela,'  says  Humboldt, 
'  or  in  the  deserts  extending  from  Lima  to  Truxill, 
"  Midnight  is  past,  the  cross  begins  to  bend." '  Cuba 
is,  indeed,  a  land  of  enchantment,  where  nature  is  beau- 
tiful and  bountiful,  and  where  mere  existence  is  a  lux- 
ury, but  it  requires  the  infusion  of  a  sterner,  a  more 
self-reliant,  self-denying  and  enterprising  race  to  test 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  513 

its  capabilities  and  to  astonish  the  world  with  its  pro- 
ductiveness." 

It  is  likely  to  occur  to  the  race  the  people  of  the 
tropics  call  Yankees,  that  to  occupy  and  possess  the 
prodigal  resources  and  the  exceeding  loveliness  of  Cuba, 
is  the  one  peculiar  luxuriance  and  delight  the  Ameri- 
cans of  the  great  republic  require  for  its  symmetry 
and  adornment,  and  to  round  out  our  commerce  with 
the  products  of  the  torrid  zone. 

The  poetry  of  Cuba,  though  the  form  is  prose,  is  in 
"  Gan-Eden  ;  or,  Pictures  of  Cuba."* 

The  "  Eden  "  is,  in  great  part,  yet  a  wilderness  ;  its 
natural  resources  and  native  beauties  yet  untraveled. 

"  Less  than  one-third,"  says  the  author,  who  denies  us 
the  pleasure  of  her  name,  "  of  the  land  in  Cuba  is  being 
under  cultivation  ;  large  regions  are  as  little  known  as 
the  interior  of  Asia.  From  every  height  which  the 
traveler  attains,  he  may  descry  a  horizon  teeming  with 
wonder  and  with  fancy,  out  of  the  ignorance  and  si- 
lence of  whose  purple  mystery  no  voice  has  come  these 
hundred  years.  There  are  forests — the  refuge  of  the 
wild  dog  and  the  wilder  man,  the  fierce  Maroon,  the 
black  pioneer  of  doom,  haunting  the  outskirts  of  a  tyran- 
nous civilization.  There  are  mountains,  unmeasured 
and  ungauged,  couching,  it  may  be,  above  treasures 
which  the  vengeful  Cemis  hid  from  the  greedy  murder- 
ers of  his  mild  worshippers.  Much  of  the  inhabited  in- 
terior, too,  is  as  little  visited  as  the  western  slopes  of 
the  southern  Alleghanies.  The  primitive  method  of 
traveling,  and  the  antique  hospitality  of  the  rural  re- 

*"  Gan-Eden;  or,  Pictures  of  Cuba."  Boston:  Published  by  John  P.  Jewett  & 
Co.;  Cleveland,  Ohio:  Jewett,  Proctor  &  Worthington;  New  York  :  Sheldon,  Lam- 
port &  Blake  man,  1854. 


514  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

gions,  throw  a  charm  of  mediaeval  unreality  over  scenes 
that  may  be  really  explored. 

"  The  magnificent  vale  of  Mariel,  fair  as  those  outer 
realms  of  Paradise  over  which  the  eyes  of  Adam  ranged 
from  his  '  heaven-kissing  verdurous  walls  ;'  the  roman- 
tic cliffs  that  mirror  their  wealth  of  flowers  in  the  green 
glistening  waters  of  the  winding  Canimar  ;  the  mighty 
steeps  of  the  Loma  de  Indra,  from  whose  heights  the 
view  sweeps  to  either  ocean,  and  away  to  the  dim  blue 
hills  of  Jamaica ;  the  endless,  fragrant,  palm-studded 
solitudes  of  the  southwest ;  the  picturesque  ravines  of 
the  northeast,  where  young  girls  may  be  seen  riding  on 
the  backs  of  oxen ;  the  subterranean  streams  gushing 
Suddenly  into  the  moonlight  from  the  blackness  of  the 
sumideros,  or  caverns,  which  honeycomb  the  surface 
of  the  Island  ;  the  hundred  sequestered  nooks,  where 
still  the  guagire  chants  his  rude  improvisations,  melo- 
dious and  full  of  meaning  as  the  cries  of  a  bellman,  or 
the  songs  of  a  gondolier,  and  charms,  in  the  skilful 
gymnastics  of  the  zapateado,  groups  of  soft-eyed  girls, 
graceful  as  the  palm-trees  arching  overhead  ;  all  these 
you  reach  over  roads  that  transport  you  to  the  Middle 
Ages. 

"  The  great  sugar  estates  lie  in  the  Vueltra  Arriba,  the 
'upper  districts,'  the  region  of  the  famous  'red  earth.' 
The  face  of  this  region  smiles  with  prosperity.  In  ev- 
ery direction  the  -traveler  rides  astonished  through  a 
garden  of  plenty,  equally  impressed  by  the  magnificent 
extent,  and  the  profuse  fertility-  of  the  estates,  whose 
palm  avenues,  plantain  orchards  and  cane  fields,  suc- 
ceed each  other  in  almost  unbroken  succession.  So 
productive  are  the  estates,  and  so  steady  is  the  demand 
for  the  planter's  crop,  that  the  great  sugar  planters  are, 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  5^5 

in  truth,  princes  of  agriculture.  Cholera,  sweeping  away 
troops  of  his  slaves,  the  match  of  an  envious,  or  the 
cigar  of  a  careless  montero  kindling  a  flame  that  noth- 
ing can  arrest,  are  alike  powerless  to  interrupt  seriously 
the  prosperous  career  of  an  intelligent  and  enterprising 
hacendado. 

'*  The  ruinous  practice  of  absenteeism,  which  prepared 
for  the  Brithish  West  Indies  that  sudden  ruin,  so  often 
and  so  unjustly  charged  upon  emancipation,  is  compar- 
atively unknown  in  Cuba. 

"The  proprietors  generally  pass  a  part  of  the  year  on 
their  estates.  The  master's  eye  keeps  watch  over  those 
admirable  arrangements  and  tasteful  decorations,  which 
make  a  great  sugar  estate  so  delightful  to  the  stranger. 
Particularly  beautiful  are  the  estates  to  which  a  cafetal 
is  attached.  The  coffee  culture  was  introduced  by  the 
French  refugees  from  Hayti,  men  of  taste  and  refine- 
ment, who,  in  laying  out  the  grounds  of  their  new 
homes,  took  thought  for  the  beautiful  as  well  as  for  the 
useful.  The  Spaniards  generally  (Garcilaso  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding),  seem  to  have  done  but  little 
for  the  advance  of  landscape  gardening,  and  the  glorious 
opportunities  offered  by  Cuba  to  the  art  have  been  lit- 
tle improved  excepting  in  the  cafetals.  Although 
Brazil  has  quite  broken  down  the  Cuban  cott'ee  trade, 
these  coffee  estates  are  still  numerous  in  the  Vueltra 
Arriba,  where  they  are  kept  up  on  the  French  models, 
chiefly  as  ornaments  to  the  sugar  estates,  vegetable 
farms,  and  homes  for  the  younger  or  the  decrepit  ne- 
groes. 

"  The  imposing  scale  of  the  operations  on  a  great  in- 
genio,  imparts  a  character  of  barbaric  regal  state  to  the 
life  one  leads  there.     The  baracoon  becomes  a  town. 


5l6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

the  planter  a  feudal  lord,  administrating  hospitalities  as 
lavish  as  the  bounty  of  the  climate  and  the  soil.  Living 
in  such  a  region,  one  soon  enters  into  the  spirit  of  that 
eastern  munificence  and  profusion  v^hich  disdain  limits 
and  calculations.  The  singular  number  falls  into  disre- 
pute. A  kind 'of  gorgeous  superfluity  seems  only  fit  and 
becoming.  Your  thought  is  all  '  of  African  and  golden 
joys.'  The  luxurious  seductions  of  the  land  persuade 
you  into  a  charity  towards  men  so  superbly  tempted. 

"  Looking  at  them  simply  as  an  entertainment,  the 
mills  of  these  great  sugar  estates  are  not  incongruous 
with  the  easy  delight  of  the  place.  Everything  is  open 
and  airy,  and  the  processes  of  the  beautiful  steam  ma- 
chinery go  on  without  the  odors  as  without  the  noises' 
that  make  most  manufactories  odious.  In  the  centrifu- 
gal process  of  sugar  making,  the  molasses  passes  into  a 
large  vat,  by  the  side  of  which  is  a  row  of  double  cylin- 
ders, the  outer  one  of  solid  metal,  the  inner  of  wire 
gauze.  These  cylinders  revolve  each  on  an  axis  at- 
tached by  a  horizontal  wheel  and  band  to  a  shaft  which 
communicates  with  the  central  engine.  The  molasses 
is  ladled  out  into  the  spaces  between  the  external  and 
internal  cylinders,  and  the  axes  are  set  in  motion  at  the 
rate  of  nineteen  hundred  revolutions  a  minute.  For 
three  minutes  you  see  only  a  white  indistinct  whirling, 
then  the  motion  is  arrested  ;  slowly  and  more  slowly 
the  cylinders  revolve,  then  stop,  and  behold !  the  whole 
inner  surface  of  the  inner  cylinder  is  covered  with  beau- 
tiful crystallizations  of  a  light  yellow  sugar.  Watching 
this  ingenious  process,  I  used  to  fancy  that  somewhat 
in  this  wise,  might  the  nebulae  of  space  be  slowly  fash- 
ioning into  worlds. 

"  But  the  cafetal  is  after  all  the  great  charm  of  these 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY,  517 

northern  ingenios.  One  of  the  loveHest  in  the  island,  I 
spent  a  season,  the  brevity  of  which  I  shall  always  regret. 
Early  in  the  inspiring  morning,  my  friend  Don  used  to 
summon  me  for  a  drive.  A  dozen  negroes  would  appear 
to  harness  one  little  lively  horse  into  a  light  American 
wagon,  bought  by  my  friend  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing over  the  thirteen  miles  of  sugar  and  coffee  estates, 
on  which  he  has  made  good,  broad  roads.  A  whole 
pack  of  dogs  started  off  before  us,  yelping,  leaping  and 
darting  in  all  directions,  and  then  we  dashed  away  at  a 
brisk  pace,  through  the  seemingly  endless  cane  fields. 
The  heavy  dew,  glittering  on  the  waves  of  green,  gave 
them  a  soft  brilliancy  ;  the  cloudless  skies,  the  buoyant 
air,  beguiled  the  way,  till  we  drove  into  the  cool  shades 
of  the  plantaneria,  or  plantain  grove,  the  unfailing  ad- 
junct of  all  estates  in  this  land,  where  plantain  and  pork 
are  as  much  the  staff  of  life  to  the  montero  and  the 
negro,  as  are  beef  and  water  to  the  guacho  or  bacon 
and  greens  to  the  Virginian.  The  plantain  tree,  though 
by  no  means  lofty  or  imposing — looking,  indeed,  more 
like  a  seedy  cabbage  with  long  leaves  or  an  overgrown 
flag  than  like  a  tree — still  reaches  the  height  of  twenty 
feet  or  more,  and  its  heavy,  dark  green  leaves  nodding 
over  the  ruddy  ground,  make  a  delightful  shade,  a  sort 
of  cool  baptistery,  from  which  you  pass  into  the  statelier 
sanctuaries  of  the  cafetal. 

"  There  the  full-leafed  orange,  thrifty,  dark,  glossy 
foliage  of  the  mango,  the  tall  elm-like  aguacate,  the 
cone-shaped  mamey,  cover  the  land  on  both  sides  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  Everywhere  you  see  the  light, 
shrubby  outlines  of  the  coffee  plant  springing  up  beneath 
the  taller  trees.  Avenues,  miles  in  length,  lead  to  the 
different  quarters  of  the  estate,  and  formed,  as  they  are. 


5l8  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

of  the  full  exuberant  mango,  or  the  branching  aguacate, 
planted  alternately  with  the  towering  royal  palm,  be- 
come forest  aisles  of  surpassing  beauty.  The  height  of 
the  palms  is  immense,  many  of  them  rising  more  than 
a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  the  air.  Overtopping  thus 
the  other  trees,  their  sweeping  noble  arches  do  not 
exclude  the  sunlight,  which  pours  through  the  intervals 
as  through  the  windows  of  a  cathedral,  and  illuminates 
the  green  solemnity  of  the  majestic  colonnades. 

"  The  cottage  of  the  cafetal  was  an  elegantly  propor- 
tioned little  tropical  mansion,  cool,  dark,  floored  with 
marble,,  wainscoted,  and  furnished  with  rich,  deep-hued 
Indian  woods.  A  garden,  filled  with  heavy  blooms  of 
jasmine  and  roses,  and  the  gorgeous  purple  Carolina, 
and  a  hundred  drooping,  odorous  flowers,  made  the  air 
faint  with  fragrance.  A  dense  grove  of  orange  trees 
near-by  was  lighted  up  through  all  its  recesses  by 
the  glowing  fruit.  Oranges  lay  all  about  on  the  bright 
red  earth,  little  naked  negroes  kicking  aside,  and  sati- 
ated pigs  disdainfully  neglecting  great  luscious  fruit, 
which  the  North  would  pile  with  pride  upon  salvers  of 
silver  and  porcelain.  Whenever  we  rode  over  to  the 
cafetal,  we  always  found  lying  on  the  marble  tables  of 
the  saloon  a  heap  of  these  superb  oranges,  with  the 
morning  still  in  their  fragrance,  or  a  huge  golden  pine- 
apple. Pineapples,  like  poets,  appear  to  the  best  advan- 
tage at  home.  The  ripe  orange  from  the  tree  has  a 
delicate  atmosphere  of  its  own,  but  in  substance  is  hardly 
better  than  a  well-ripened  orange  from  the  fruiterer's 
shop. 

"The  '  lush  banana'  is  never  allowed  to  ripen  on  the 
tree,  as  it  falls  out  of  its  sheltering  purple  glove  imme- 
diately on  coming  to  maturity. 


HER  STRUGGLES   FOR  LIBERTY.  5^9 

"  I  have  spoken  of  the  exceeding  beauty  of  the  Cuban 
nights,  and  of  the  golden  moon,  which  pours  over  the 
tropical  landscape  a  flood  of  luxurious  splendor,  quite 
unimaginable  by  those  who  have  but  watched  her  climb 
the  northern  sky  with  a  wan  face,  and  with  sad  steps. 
Beneath  the  moon,  too,  and  the  stars,  the  night  glances 
with  living  meteors.  The  cucullos  are  indeed  incon- 
ceivably brilliant.  '  Watchmen  of  the  insects,'  a 
lovely,  quick-witted  boy  of  four  summers,  the  child 
of  one  of  my  friends,  called  these  torchbearers  when 
he  first  saw  them  ;  and  flying  in  long  lines,  with 
their  double  lights,  they  do  produce  an  effect  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  long  processions  of  the  watch  at 
Havana. 

"  The  light  of  the  cucullo  is  really  strong  enough  to  serve 
as  a  candle.  It  is  also  very  delicate,  a  fine  green  luminous- 
ness,  precisely  like  the  effulgence  which  emeralds  shed 
upon  a  lovely  neck.  But  the  emeralds  of  inca  or  sultan 
may  soon  be  counted,  and  these  glories  are  showered 
indifferently  into  the  verandah  of  the  noble  and  the 
baracon  of  the  slave.  Children  delight  in  them,  keep- 
ing them  shut  up  by  forties  and  fifties  in  little  cages  of 
reeds.  They  are  carefully  washed  at  morning  and  night, 
and  fed  with  sugar-cane  (if  fed  with  sugar  the  saccha- 
rine particles  adhere  to  their  legs,  and  they  fall  upon 
each  other  like  Kilkenny  cats),  and  in  this  way  may  be 
kept  alive  and  shining  for  many  days.  They  have  been 
carried  thus  to  New  York,  and  set  free  in  New  York,  to 
the  great  wonderment  of  the  Gothamites.  The  nature  of 
their  light  I  do  not  know.  But  all  the  under  part  of  the 
body  is  transparent,  and  the  light  appears  to  be  under 
the  cucuUo's  control,  flashing  and  failing  like  the  bottled 
up  auroras  of  Prof  L —  at  Cambridge.     The  calm  eter- 

C — 30 


520  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

nal    stars  look  hardly  more  divine  than  these  mortal 
stars,  that  seem  to  cheat  us  poor  moths  out  of  our 

"  Devotion  to  something  afar 
From  the  sphere  of  our  sorrow." 

As  a  money  winner  the  Cuban  tobacco  ranks  next 
to  sugar,  and  is  famous  throughout  the  world.  Up  to 
the  year  1791  the  "  Commercial  Company  of  Havana" 
delivered  the  tobacco  of  Cuba  to  the  royal  factories  in 
Spain  under  contracts  which  were  renewed  from  time 
to  time  with  the  crovernment.  The  establishment  of  a 
government  "  Factoria  de  Tobacco"  in  Havana  suc- 
ceeded that  company.  The  tobacco  was  classified  as 
superior,  medium,  and  inferior,  and  was  received  from 
the  growers  at  fixed  prices ;  in  1804  these  were  six,  five, 
and  two  and  a  half  dollars  per  arrobe  [A  Spanish  unit 
of  weight  nominally  a  fourth  part  of  a  hundred  weight, 
but  with  local  variations  from  25  to  32  pounds  avoirdu- 
pois.]   ($24,  $20,  and  $10  per  quintal)  respectively. 

"  By  comparing  the  different  prices  with  the  quantity 
of  each  class  of  tobacco  produced,  we  find  that  the 
'Factoria'  paid  an  average  price  of  $16  per  quintal  for 
the  leaf  tobacco.  With  the  expense  of  manufacture, 
the  cigars  cost  the  government  seventy-five  cents  per 
pound ;  snuff",  fine  grain  and  good  color,  42^  cents,  and 
common  soft,  or  Seville,  18^  cents  a  pound,  in  Havana. 
In  good  years,  when  the  crop  (the  product  of  advances 
made  by  the  'Factoria'  to  poor  cultivators)  amounted 
to  350,000  arrobes  of  leaf,  128,000  arrobes  were  manu- 
factured for  Spain,  80,000  for  Havana,  9,200  for  Peru, 
6,000  for  Buenos  Ayres,  2,240  for  Mexico,  and  1,100  for 
Caracas  and  Campeachy. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  521 

"  In  order  to  make  up  the  amount  of  315,000  arrobes 
(for  the  crop  loses  ten  per  cent,  of  its  weight,  in  loss 
and  damage  in  the  transportation  and  manufacture)  we 
must  suppose  that  80,000  arrobes  were  consumed  in  the 
interior  of  the  Island ;  that  is,  in  the  country,  where  the 
royal  monopoly  did  not  extend.  The  maintenance  of 
120  slaves  and  the  expenses  of  manufacture  did  not 
exceed  $12,000  yearly;  but  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of 
the  'Factoria'  amounted  to  $541,000.  The  value  of 
the  128,000  arrobes  of  tobacco  sent  to  Spain,  in  the 
abundant  years,  either  in  cigars,  leaf  or  snuff,  at  the 
customary  prices  there,  exceeded  the  sum  of  five  million 
dollars. 

"  It  is  surprising  to  see  in  the  returns  of  exports 
from  Havana  (documents  published  by  the  Consulado) 
that  the  exports  for  18 16  were  only  3,400  arrobes;  for 
the  year  1823,  only  13,900  arrobes  of  leaf  tobacco  and 
71,000  pounds  of  sugar,  the  value  of  which  was  esti- 
mated by  the  custom  house  at  $281,000;  and  in  1825 
only  70,302  pounds  of  cigars  and  167,100  pounds  of  leaf 
tobacco  and  strips  ;  but  we  must  remember  that  no 
branch  of  the  contraband  trade  is  more  active  than  that 
in  cigars.  The  tobacco  of  the  Vuelta  de  Abajo  is  more 
celebrated,  but  large  quantities  are  exported  which  are 
produced  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Island.  The  culti- 
vation of  tobacco  has  been  one  of  the  most  uncertain 
branches  of  industry  in  Cuba.  Trammeled  by  restric- 
tions and  exactions,  it  was  confined  almost  entirely  to 
the  poorer  classes  of  the  population,  who  were  enabled 
to  raise  a  scanty  and  uncertain  crop  through  the  ad- 
vances of  capital  made  them  by  the  '  Factoria.'  After 
the  suppression  of  this  monopoly,  it  has  had  to  contend 
with  the  more  popular  and  profitable  pursuits  of  coffee 


522  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

and  sugar  planting,  which  have  successfully  competed 
with  it  for  the  employment  of  the  skill,  capital,  and 
labor  of  the  Island." 

The  Vuelta  de  Abajo  owes  its  fine  and  universally 
esteemed  quality  of  tobacco  probably  as  much  to  the 
physical  formation  of  the  country  as  to  any  peculiar 
quality  of  its  soil.  Along  the  northern  border  of  the 
district,  where  the  best  tobacco  is  grown,  lies  the  high 
Sierra  de  los  Organos,  gathering,  in  rains  upon  its 
northern  slopes,  the  moisture  borne  landward  by  the 
constantly  prevailing  trade  winds,  and  this,  with  the 
effect  of  the  surrounding  heated  waters  of  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  give  to  the  region 
south  of  this  ridge  a  character  of  climate  peculiarly  its 
own.  It  is  in  this  region  that  Maceo's  raids  have  been 
so  ruinous  to  the  industry. 

The  hurricanes  of  Cuba  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a 
resource  or  beauty,  and  they  are  not  attractive,  and 
picturesque  is  hardly  the  word.  They  received  scant 
attention  from  Humboldt,  who  visited  the  Island  in 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  since  which  only 
two  hurricanes  have  been  experienced  there.  The  first 
of  these  occurred  on  the  4th  and  5th  of  October,  1844. 
It  began  about  ten  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  4th, 
and  continued  with  great  violence  until  daylight,  when 
the  point  of  greatest  descent  of  the  barometer,  28.27, 
was  observed.  From  that  time  it  subsided,  and  the 
torrents  of  rain  began  to  cease,  but  the  wind  continued 
to  blow  with  great  violence  until  10  a.m.  This  storm 
passed  over  all  the  zone  of  the  country  comprised 
between  Bahia  Honda  and  Sierra  Morena  on  the  north, 
and  Galafre  and  Cienfuegos  on  the  south  side  of  Cuba. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-eight  vessels  were  wrecked  in 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  523 

the  harbors  and  on  the  coasts,  and  one  hundred  and 
one  lives  were  lost. 

The  crops  suffered  severely,  and  2,546  houses  were 
destroyed.  The  second  hurricane  occurred  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  was  more  destructive  than  the  pre- 
ceding one.  It  began  about  midnight  of  the  loth  of 
October,  and  increased  in  violence,  with  torrents  of 
rain  and  spray,  until  10:30  a.m.  of  the  nth,  when  the 
barometer  had  fallen  to  27.06,  the  lowest  point  it  has 
ever  been  known  to  touch  in  Cuba.  Its  ravages  ex- 
tended over  nearly  the  same  extent  of  country  with 
that  of  1844,  but  its  greatest  violence  was  confined  to  a 
circle  of  about  40  miles  radius  round  Havana.  Two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  vessels  were  lost,  1,872  houses 
were  blown  down,  5,051  partially  destroyed,  and  114 
persons  perished. 

During  both  of  these  hurricanes  the  wind  veered  to 
every  point  of  the  compass,  and  the  salt  spray  was  car- 
ried fifteen  or  twenty  miles  inland,  blackening  vegeta- 
tion as  though  fire  had  passed  over  it. 

The  American  Encyclopaedia  gives  these  figures  of 
the  extent  of  the  Island  :  '*  The  greatest  length  of  the 
Island,  measured  through  the  centre,  is  given  by  differ- 
ent authorities  from  750  to  793  English  miles  ;  the  great- 
est width,  50  miles  west  of  Santiago,  is  about  127  miles  ; 
from  Havana  to  the  southern  coast  at  Batabano,  it  is 
only  about  28  miles  across  the  Island.  The  area  of  the 
Island  has  been  variously  estimated.  In  1825  it  was 
computed  by  Senor  Bauza,  at  the  request  of  Humboldt, 
and  found  to  be  3,681  square  maritime  leagues  of  20  to 
the  degree.  This  included  the  Isle  of  Pines,  on  the 
southern  coast,  the  area  of  which  is  98  leagues.  The 
latest  estimates  of  the  area,  converted  into  English  stat- 


524  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

ute  miles,  are  from  42,383  to  45,277.  The  Isle  of  Pines 
contains  besides  810  square  miles,  and  other  small 
islands,  970,  making  that  of  the  whole  territory  belong- 
ing to  Cuba  from  44,163  to  47,057  square  miles.  The 
length  of  shore  line  on  the  south  side  is  301  leagues, 
and  on  the  north,  272  leagues  ;  that  of  the  whole  Island 
may  be  called  about  2,000  English  miles." 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  dimensions  Cuba  closely 
corresponds  with  the  state  of  New  York.  The  difficulty 
of  soldiering  in  this  country  appears  in  this  outline 
sketch  of  the  swamps  and  their  relations  to  the  moun- 
tains and  the  sea.  For  the  most  part  low  tracts  inter- 
vene between  the  central  elevations  and  the  shore  on 
either  side;  and  in  the  wet  season  these  are  inundated,  and 
rendered  almost  impassable  by  the  depth  of  water  and  the 
tenacity  of  the  deep  black  mud.  From  Jagua  to  Point 
Sabina  on  the  south  side,  the  country  is  a  continuous 
swamp  for  46  leagues,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
many  other  less  extensive  tracts  on  the  north  side. 

There  are  limestone  formations  in  the  Island,  cav- 
ernous like  that  of  such  mammoth  cave  celebrity  in 
Kentucky,  and,  that  nothing  may  be  lacking,  there  are 
true  marbles  and  petroleum  springs.  Once — from  1 724 
to  1 795 — Havana  was  the  port  where  the  ships  of  Spain 
were  built — 114  vessels  of  4,902  guns  were  constructed 
there — but  this  was  stopped  on  the  complaint  that  Spain 
must  build  ships  at  home.  Cuba  had  too  many  facil- 
ities for  the  work  to  be  allowed  to  carry  it  on. 

On  all  the  coasts  of  Cuba,  but  principally  on  the  north- 
ern, are  found  immense  deposits  of  salt. 

The  astonishing  value  of  Cuban  wood  was  one  of  the 
things  that  were  discovered  by  Columbus.  Among  the 
woods  are  the  lignum  vitae  ;  the  cocoa  wood  or  cocus. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERrV.  525 

which  somewhat  resembles  the  Hgnum  vitae,  and  is  used 
for  similar  purposes,  as  also  for  pins,  and  tree  nails,  and 
for  turnery,  making  excellent  flutes  ;  the  lance  wood, 
largely  exported  for  carriage  shafts,  surveyors'  instru- 
ments, and  other  uses.  Mahogany  is  so  abundant,  and 
the  quality  of  the  wood  is  so  superior,  that  it  has  been, 
since  its  first  use  in  London,  in  1724,  an  important  item 
in  the  exports  of  the  Island.  Belonging  to  the  same 
natural  order  is  the  cedrela  odorata  of  Linnaeus,  and 
there  much  used,  as  also  in  the  United  States,  for  the 
inside  of  drawers  and  wardrobes.  It  is  the  material  of 
the  cigar  boxes. 

Humboldt,  citing  the  several  species  of  palm,  of  which 
he  enumerates  five,  remarks  that  "  we  might  believe  that 
the  entire  island  was  originally  a  forest  of  palms  and 
wild  lime  and  orange  trees."  These  last,  which  have 
a  small  fruit,  are  probably  anterior  to  the  arrival 
of  the  Europeans,  who  carried  there  the  agrumi  of  the 
gardens,  which  rarely  exceed  ten  or  fifteen  feet  in 
height. 

There  was  but  little  gold  found  in  Cuba,  but,  what 
was  much  better,  a  great  deal  of  coal.  Cuba  has  but 
one  peculiar  animal,  and  it  resembles  a  big  rat.  There 
is  also  a  big  snake,  quite  harmless,  and  one,  not  so  big, 
that  is  venomous,  but  not  numerous  or  deadly. 

There  are  200  species  of  indigenous  birds,  many  of 
them  very  brilliant.  The  fish  are  abundant,  and  rival 
the  birds  in  beauty.  The  oysters  are  delicious,  and  the 
turtles  crawl  abundantly  over  the  coral  islands.  The 
forests  and  fruits  are  thus  treated  by  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica  : 

"The  forests  of  Cuba  are  of  vast  extent,  and  so  dense 
as  to  be  almost  impenetrable.     It  is  estimated  that  of 


526  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

nearly  20,000,000  acres  of  land  still  remaining  perfectly- 
wild  and  uncultivated,  nearly  13,000,000  are  uncleared 
forests.  Mahogany  and  other  hard  woods,  such  as  the 
Cuban  ebony,  cedar,  sabicei  and  granadilla,  valuable 
for  manufactures,  cabinet  work  and  ship  building,  are 
indigenous,  and  are  exported  to  a  considerable  extent. 
The  palm  is  the  queen  of  the  Cuban  forests,  and  the 
most  valuable  tree  on  the  Island.  The  most  common 
species,  the  Palma  Real  (Oreodoxo  regia),  is  found  in 
all  parts,  but  especially  in  the  west.  The  fruits  of  Cuba 
are  those  common  to  the  tropics,  of  which  the  pine- 
apple and  orange  are  the  most  esteemed.  Of  the  ali- 
mentary plants,  the  plaintain  is  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant." 

And  we  quote  the  same  authority  on  sugar,  coffee 
and  tobacco  : 

"  The  United  States  take  about  70  or  80  per  cent,  of 
the  sugar  grown  in  Cuba,  the  greater  part  of  the  re- 
mainder passing  to  Europe.  The  quantity  exported  in 
1873  from  the  ports  of  Havana,  Matanzas,  Cardenas, 
Sagua  la  Grande,  Remedies,  Nuevitas,  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  Trinidad  and  Cienfuegos  exceeded  600,000  tons, 
of  a  value  of  about  ;^  12,000,000.  Besides  this,  242,000 
tons  of  molasses  were  exported.  After  the  *  ingenios  ' 
the  'cafetales'  or  coffee  estates  are  the  most  important 
establishments.  They  vary  in  extent  from  100  to  up- 
wards of  1,000  acres,  or  even  more  in  the  mountain 
districts,  the  number  of  hands  employed  being  as  high 
as  100  in  the  low  country,  but  generally  averaging  fifty 
or  sixty  negroes  to  i  ,000  acres.  The  first  coffee  planta- 
tion was  established  in  1748,  the  seeds  having  been 
brought  from  San  Domingo.  Though  at  one  time 
coffee  was  sent  out  from  Cuba  in  enormous  quantities. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  52/ 

it  does  not  now  figure  largely  in  the  exports.  Tobacco 
is  indigenous  to  Cuba,  and  its  excellent  quality  is  cel- 
ebrated in  all  parts  of  the  world.  ■  The  estates  devoted 
to  its  cultivation  are  scattered  over  the  greater  part  of 
the  Island,  but  the  finest  qualities  of  tobacco  are  those 
grown  in  the  country  west  of  Havana,  known  as  the 
'  Vuelta  Abajo. '  In  1873,  224,765,000  cigars  were  ex- 
ported, besides  nearly  13,500,000  lbs.  of  leaf. 

"The  backward  state  of  education  is  one  of  the  griev- 
ances of  the  Cubans. 

"The  Roman  Catholic  is  the  only  one  religion  tol- 
erated by  the  government.  At  first  there  was  but  one 
diocese,  which  included  not  only  the  whole  Island,  but 
also  Louisiana  and  the  two  Floridas,  all  under  one 
bishop.  In  1 788  Cuba  was  divided  into  two  dioceses, 
each  embracing  half  the  Island.  The  eastern  diocese, 
or  that  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  was,  in  1804,  erected  into 
an  archbishopric,  while  that  of  Havana-  still  remains 
under  a  bishop.  3^^  N' 

"The  crown  revenues  ojf  the  Island  are  the  rentas- 
maritimas,v  including  duties  on  imports,  exports  and 
tonnage,  and  the  local  or  municipal  duties  levied  at 
sorae  of  the  custom  houses ;  the  impuestas  interiores, 
including  the  tax  on  home  manufactures,  the  sale  of 
stamped  paper,  the  profits  derived  from  the  lottery,  and 
the  impost  on  cock-fights  ;  deductions  from  the  rentas- 
ecclesiasticas,  particularly  those  called  the  royal  ninths 
and  the  consolidated  funds,  the  sinking  fund,  the  media 
annata,  and  the  annual  and  monthly  revenues  of  the 
clergy  ;  personal  deductions,  such  as  from  the  pay  of 
public  functionaries,  and  the  price  of  exemption  from 
military  service  ;  miscellaneous  receipts,  as  the  produce 
of  the  sale  of  royal  lands,  the  rents  of  vacant   livings 


528  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA., 

and  of  unclaimed  estates,  the  produce  of  vendible 
offices,  and  casual  receipts,  including  deposits,  confisca- 
tions, donations,  and  the  recovery  of  arrears." 

Concerning  the  mountains,  we  quote  the  Encyclopae- 
dia Britannica  : 

**^he  highest  part  of  the  Island  is  in  the  range  exten- 
tending  in  the  southeast  from  the  Punta  de  Maysi  to 
Cape  Cruse,  called  the  Sierra  or  Montanos  de  Maestra 
or  Cobre,  the  summits  of  which  are  the  Pico  de  T^r- 
quino,  7,670  feet,  the  highest  point  of  the  whole  Island  ; 
Gran  Piedra,  5,200  feet ;  Yunque  and  Ojo  del  Toro, 
3,500.  From  this  Sierra  a  ridge  of  much  smaller  general 
elevation  follows  nearly  the  central  line  of  the  Island 
westward  throughout  its  extent,  rising  to  form  a  marked 
range  in  the  extreme  west  of  Cuba,  on  which  the  Pan 
de  Guajaibon  attains  2,530  feet.  An  almost  isolated 
mass  of  which  the  Pico  de  Potrerillo  is  the  summit, 
2,990  feet  above  the  sea,  rises  immediately  behind  the 
harbor  of  Trinidad,  near  the  centre  of  the  southern 
coastland. 

"  The  rivers  are  necessarily  short,  and  flow  toward  the 
north  and  south.  The  largest  is  the  Cauto,  rising  in  the 
Sierra  del  Cobre,  and  falling  into  the  Bay  of  Buena  Es- 
peranza  on  the  southern  coast,  after  a  course  of  fifty 
leagues,  for  twenty  of  which  it  is  navigable  by  boats, 
though  at  low  water  obstructed  by  bars.  The  Sagua 
la  Grande  rises  in  the  Sierra  del  Escambray,  and  falls 
into  the  sea  in  front  of  the  Boca  de  Maravillas,  being 
navigable  for  five  leagues. 

"  Situated  within,  and  near  the  border  of  the  northern 
tropical  zone,  the  climate  of  the  low  coastlands  of  Cuba 
is  that  of  the  torrid  zone,  but  the  higher  interior  of  the 
Island    enjoys  a  more    temperate    atmosphere.     On  a 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  529 

mean  of  seven  years,  the  rainfall  at  Havana  in  the  wet 
season  has  been  observed  to  be  27.8  inches,  of  the  dry 
months  12.7  or  40.5  inches  for  the  year.  At  Havana  in 
the  warmest  months,  those  of  July  and  August,  the 
average  temperature  is  82  Fahr.,  fluctuating  between  a 
maximum  of  88°  and  a  minimum  of  76°  ;  in  the  cooler 
months  of  December  and  January,  the  thermometer 
averages  72°,  the  maximum  being  78°,  the  minimum  58° ; 
the  average  temperature  of  the  year  at  Havana,  on  a 
mean  of  seven  years,  is  'j'j^." 

But  it  is  fair  that  our  readers  should  hear  a  cry  from 
Cuba  of  poverty,  and  we  find  it  in  "  Cuba  and  the 
Cubans,"  by  Raimundo  Cabrera. 

"  Oh,  we  are  truly  rich  ! 

"From  1821  to  1826,  Cuba,  with  her  own  resources, 
covered  the  expenditures  of  the  treasury.  Our  opu- 
lence dates  from  that  period.  We  had  already  suffi- 
cient negro  slaves  to  cut  down  our  virgin  forests,  and 
ample  authority  to  force  them  to  work 

"  By  means  of  our  vices  and  our  luxury,  and  in  spite 
of  the  hatred  of  everything  Spanish,  which  Moreno  at- 
tributed to  us,  we  sent,  in  1827,  the  first  little  million  of 
hard  cash  to  the  treasury  of  the  nation.  From  that 
time,  until  1864,  we  continued  to  send  yearly  to  the 
mother-country  two  millions  and  a  half  of  the  same 
stuff.  According  to  several  Spanish  statisticians,  these 
sums  amounted,  in  1864,  to  $89,107,287.  We  were  very 
rich,  don't  you  see  ?  tremendously  rich.  We  contribu- 
ted more  than  five  million  dollars  towards  the  require- 
ments of  the  Peninsular — $5,372,205.  We  paid,  in  great 
part,  the  cost  of  the  war  in  Africa.  The  individual  do- 
ations  alone  amounted  to  fabulous  sums. 

"  But,  of  course,  we  have  never  voted  for  our  own  im- 


530  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

posts  ;  they  have  been  forced  upon  us  because  we  are  so 
rich.  In  1862,  we  had  in  a  state  of  production  the  fol- 
lowing estates  :  2,712  stock  farms,  1,521  sugar  planta- 
tions, 782  coffee  plantations,  6,175  cattle  ranches,  18 
cocoa  plantations,  35  cotton  plantations,  22,748  produce 
farms,  11,738  truck  farms,  11,541  tobacco  plantations, 
1,731  apiaries,  153  country  resorts,  243  distilleries,  468 
tile-works,  504  lime-kilns,  63  charcoal  furnaces,  54  cas- 
ava-bread  factories,  and  61  tanneries.  To-day  I  do  not 
know  what  we  possess,  because  there  are  no  statistics, 
and  because  the  recently  organized  assessment  is  a 
hodge-podge  and  a  new  burden  ;  but  we  have  more  than 
at  that  time  ;  surely,  we  must  have  a  great  deal  more. 
"  For  a  very  long  time  we  have  borne  the  expenses  of 
the  convict  settlement  of  Fernando  Po.  We  paid  for 
the  ill-starred  Mexican  expedition,  the  costs  of  the  war 
in  San  Domingo,  and  with  the  republics  of  the  Pacific  ; 
how  can  we  possibly  be  poor  ?  While  England,  France 
and  Holland  appropriate  large  sums  for  the  require- 
ments of  their  colonies,  Spain  does  not  contribute  a  sin- 
gle cent  for  hers.  We  do  not  need  it ;  we  are  wading  deep 
in  rivers  of  gold.  If  the  fertility  of  our  soil  did  not  come 
to  our  rescue,  we  must,  perforce,  have  become  enriched 
by  the  system  of  protection  to  the  commerce  of  the 

mother-country The  four    columns  of  the 

tariff  are  indeed  a  sublime  invention.  Our  agricultural 
industries  require  foreign  machinery,  tools  and  utensils, 
which  Spain  does  not  supply,  but,  as  she  knows  that  we 
have  gold  to  spare,  she  may  make  us  pay  for  them  very 
high.  And  since  our  sugar  is  to  be  sold  to  the  United 
States  .  .  never  mind  what  they  cost.  When  there 
are  earthquakes  in  Andalusia  and  inundations  in  Mur- 
cia,  hatred  does  not  prevent  us  from  sending  to  our  af- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  531 

flicted  brethren  large  sums.  .  .  (which  sometimes 
fail  to  reach  their  destination). 

"  We  are  opulent  ?  Let  us  see  if  we  are.  From  the 
earliest  times  down  to  the  present  the  officials  who  come 
to  Cuba  amass,  in  the  briefest  space  of  time,  fortunes  to 
be  dissipated  in  Madrid,  and  which  appear  never  to  dis- 
turb their  consciences.  This  country  is  very  rich,  incal- 
culably rich.  In  1830  we  contributed  $6,120,934  ;  in 
1840,  $9,605,877  ;  in  1850,  $10,074,677  ;  in  i860,  $29,6 10,- 
779.  During  the  war  we  did  not  merely  contribute  ;  we 
bled.     We  had  to  carry  the  budget  of  $82,000,000. 

"  We  count  1,500,000  inhabitants  ;  that  is  to  say,  one 
million  and  a  half  of  vicious,  voluptuous,  pompous 
spendthrifts,  full  of  hatred  and  low  passions,  who  con- 
tribute to  the  public  charges  and  never  receive  a  cent 
in  exchange  ;  who  have  given  as  much  as  $92  per  cap- 
ita, and  who  at  the  present  moment  pay  to  the  state 
what  no  other  taxpayers  the  world  over  have  ever  con- 
tributed. Does  any  one  say  that  we  are  not  prodig- 
iously, enviably  rich  ?  " 


532  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    ANCIENT    RECORDS    OF    THE    ISLAND. 

The  Words  in  Spanish  and  Rendered  in  English  with  which  Columbus 
Reports  the  Discovery  of  Cuba — The  Words  in  which  he  Reported 
the  Smoking  of  Tobacco  by  the  Islanders — The  Account  of  the 
First  Mass  Celebrated  in  the  New  World. 

We  reserve  for  a  special  chapter  the  interesting- 
first  records  of  the  long  story.  They  possess  the 
greatest  value,  and  have  been  accurately  produced  by 
careful  investigation.  The  accepted  account  of  the 
first  mass  in  America  is  wrong.  71ie  truth  is  here  set 
forth.  The  temple  in  Havana  marks  the  spot  where 
the  first  celebration  occurred  on  the  site  of  the  city. 

It  was  during  the  voyage  the  first  mass  was  said  that 
Columbus  discovered  Jamaica,  and  he  sailed  west  as 
far  as  the  Isle  of  Pines.  A  few  days  more  would 
have  informed  him  that  he  had  found  a  great  island, 
and  not  a  continent  as  he  believed  all  his  life.  He 
had  been  dead  two  years  when  Cuba  was  first  circum- 
navigated. 

Columbus  saw  for  the  first  time  the  land  of  the  island 
of  Cuba  in  the  afternoon  of  the  27th  October,  1492,  and 
on  the  following  day,  Sunday  the  28th,  entered  a  river 
on  its  northern  coast.  He  called  this  river  San  Salva- 
dor, and  to  the  Island  he  gave  the  name  oi  Juana.  He 
then  took  possession  of  the  new  territory  for  the  king 
and  queen  of  Castile,  and  sailed  along  its  coast  until 
the  5th  of  December,  in  which  time  he  visited  five  har- 


^^         OFTHE  ^ 

UNIVERSITY 


HER-  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  535 

bors  named  by  him  Puerto  y  Rio  de  Mares,  Mar  de 
Ntiestra  Senora,  Puerto  Principe,  Santa  Catalina  y  Puerto 
Santo. 

Here  is  his  own  statement  in  old  Spanish  and  with 
the  old  spelling. 

"  Cuando  yo  llegue  a  la  Juana  segui  yo  la  costa  della 
poniente  y  la  falle  tan  grande  que  pense  que  seria  tierra 
firme,  la  prouincia  de  Catayo,  y  como  no  falle  asi  villas 
y  lugares  en  la  costa  de  la  mar,  salvo  pequenas  pob- 
laciones,  con  la  gente  de  las  cuales  no  podia  hauer  fabla, 
porque  luego  fuyan  todos,  andaua  yo  adelante  por  el 
dicho  camino,  pensando  de  no  errar  grandes  ciudades 
o  villas,  y  al  cabo  de  muchas  leguas  visto  que  no  hauia 
innovacion  y  que  la  costa  me  leuaua  al  setentrion,  de 
donde  mi  voluntad  era  contraria,  por  que  el  yuierno  era 
ya  encarnado,  yo  tenia  proposito  de  hazer  del  austro  y 
tanbien  el  viento  me  dio  adelante,  determine  de  no 
aguardar  otro  tiempo.  y  bolui  atras  fasta  un  senalado 
puerto  da  donde  embie  dos  hombres  por  la  tierra  para 
saber  si  hauia  rey  o  grandes  ciudades.  Andouieron 
tres  jornadas  y  hallaron  infinitas  poblaciones  pequenas 
y  gente  sin  numero,  mas  no  cosa  de  regimiento,  por  lo 
qual  se  boluieron.  Yo  entendia  harta  de  otros  jndios 
que  ya  tenia  tomados  commo  continuamente  esta  tierra 
era  isla,  et  asi  segui  la  costa  della  al  oriente  ciento  y 
siete  leguas  faste  donde  fazia  fin  :  del  cjual  cabo  vi  otra 
isla  al  oriente  distante  de  esta  diez  e  ocho  leguas,  a  la 
qual  luego  puse  nombre  la  Espanola,  y  fui  alii  y  segui 
la  parte  del  setentrion  asi  como  de  la  Juana,  al  oriente 
clxxxiij  grandes  leguas  por  linia  recta  del  oriente,  la 
cual  y  todas  las  otras  son  fertilisimas  en  demasiado 
grado,  y  esta  en  estremo  ;  en  ella  ay  muchos  puertos 
enla  costa  dela  mar,  sin  comparacion  de  otros  que  yo 


536  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

sepa  en  christianos,  y  fartos  rios,  y  buenos,  y  grandes, 
que  es  marauilla.  Las  tierras  della  son  altas  y  en  ella 
muy  muchas  sierras  y  montanas  altissimas  sin  compara- 
cion  de  la  isla  de  Teneryfe.  Son  todas  fermossissimas 
de  mill  fechuras  y  todas  andabiles  y  llenas  de  arboles 
de  mil  maneras  y  altas  y  parecen  que  Uegan  al  cielo  ;  y 
tengo  por  dicho  que  jamas  pierden  la  foja,  segun  puedo 
comprender  que  los  vi  tan  verdes  y  tan  hermosos 
commo  son  en  Mayo  en  Spafia,  y  dellos  stavan  floridos, 
dellos  confruto,  y  dellos  en  otro  termino  segun  es  su 
calidad  ;  y  cantaua  el  ruisefiol  y  otros  paxaricos  de  mil 
maneras  en  el  mes  de  nouiembre  por  alii  donde  yo  an- 
daua.  Ay  palmas  de  seys  o  de  ocho  maneras,  que  es 
admiracion  verlas  por  la  disformidad  fermosa  dellas 
mas  assi  commo  los  otros  arboles  y  frutos  et  yeruas. 
En  ella  hay  pinares  a  marauilla,  e  ay  canpinas  grandis- 
simas  et  ay  mjel,  y  de  muchas  maneras  de  aves  y  frutas 
muy  diversas.  En  las  tierras  ay  muchas  minas  de 
metales  et  ay  gente  inestimable  numero,"  etc.* 

TRANSLATION. 

"  When  I  reached  Juana,  I  followed  its  coast  to  the 
westward,  and  found  it  so  large  that  I  thought  that  it 
must  be  mainland,  the  province  of  Cathay  ;  and  as  I 
found  neither  towns  nor  villages  on  the  seacoast,  but 
only  some  hamlets,  with  the  inhabitants  of  which  I 
could  not  hold  conversation,  because  they  all  imme- 
diately fled,  I  kept  on  the  same  route,  thinking  that  I 
could  not  fail  to  light  upon  some  large  cities  or  towns. 

"  At  length,  after  the  proceeding  of  many  leagues,  and 

*The  above  is  quoted  from  \As  first  letter  \.o  Santangel,  the  chancellor  of  the  ex- 
chequer of  Aragon,  dated  at  Lisbon,  the  14th  March,  1493,  just  on  his  return  from 
his  first  voyage. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  537 

finding  that  nothing  new  presented  itself,  and  that  the 
coast  was  leading  me  northwards  (which  I  wished  to 
avoid,  because  winter  had  already  set  in,  and  it  was  my 
intention  to  move  southwards  ;  and  because,  moreover, 
the  winds  were  contrary),  I  resolved  not  to  wait  for  a 
change  in  the  weather,  but  returned  to  a  certain  harbor 
which  I  had  remarked,  and  from  which  I  sent  two  men 
ashore  to  ascertain  whether  there  was  any  king  or  large 
cities  in  that  part.  They  journeyed  for  three  days,  and 
found  countless  small  hamlets,  with  numberless  inhab- 
itants, but  with  nothing  like  order ;  they,  therefore, 
returned.  In  the  meantime  I  had  learned  from  some 
other  Indians,  whom  I  had  seized,  that  this  land  was 
certainly  an  island  ;  accordingly,  I  followed  the  coast 
eastward  for  a  distance  of  107  leagues,  where  it  ended  in 
a  cape.  From  this  cape  I  saw  another  island  to  the  east- 
ward, at  a  distance  of  eighteen  leagues  from  the  former, 
to  which  I  gave  the  name  of  La  Espanola.  Thither  I 
went,  and  followed  its  northern  coast  (just  the  same  as 
I  had  done  with  the  coast  of  Juana)  118  full  miles  due 
east.  This  island,  like  all  others,  is  extraordinarily 
large,  and  this  one  extremely  so.  In  it  are  many  sea- 
ports, with  which  none  that  I  know  in  Christendom  can 
bear  comparison,  so  good  and  capacious  that  it  is  a  won- 
der to  see.  The  lands  are  high,  and  there  are  many 
lofty  mountains,  with  which  the  islands  of  Tenerife  can- 
not be  compared.  They  are  all  most  beautiful,  of  a 
thousand  different  shapes,  accessible,  and  covered  with 
trees  of  a  thousand  kinds,  of  such  great  height  that  they 
seem  to  reach  the  skies.  I  am  told  that  the  trees  never 
lose  their  foliage,  and  I  can  well  understand  it,  for 
I  observed  that  they  were  as  green  and  luxuriant  as  in 
Spain  in  the  month  of  May.  Some  were  in  bloom,  others 

C— 31 


538  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

bearing  fruit,  and  others  otherwise,  according  to  their 
nature.  The  nightingale  was  singing,  as  well  as  other 
little  birds  of  a  thousand  different  kinds,  and  that 
in  November,  the  month  in  which  I  was  roaming 
amongst  them.  There  are  palm-trees  of  six  or  eight 
kinds,  wonderful  in  their  beautiful  variety  ;  but  this  is 
the  case  with  all  other  trees  and  fruits  and  grasses.  It 
contains  extraordinary  pine  groves  and  very  extensive 
plains.  There  is  also  honey,  and  a  great  variety  of 
birds,  and  many  different  kinds  of  fruits.  In  the  interior 
there  are  many  mines  of  metals,  and  a  population  innu- 
merable," etc. 

On  the  29th  April,  1494,  Columbus  left  La  Espafi- 
ola  in  order  to  visit  the  southern  coast  of  Cuba,  and 
two  days  afterwards  arrived  at  the  harbor  of  Guanta- 
namo,  which  he  called  Puerto  Grande.  Following  his 
voyage  in  another  direction,  he  discovered  Jamaica,  and 
then  returned  to  Cuba  and  reached  the  Cabo  Cruz  on 
the  1 8th  May,  continued  his  sailing  westwards  and 
found  the  numerous  archipelago  now  known  as  El 
Cayo  de  las  Doce  Leguas,  which  he  called  Jardines  de 
la  Reina  ("  the  Gardens  of  the  Queen  ").  On  the  22d  he 
stopped  at  the  largest  of  those  islands,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  Santa  Marta. 

Again  going  towards  the  coast,  he  entered  the  Hati- 
bonico  River  on  the  3d  of  June,  and  found  a  great  num- 
ber of  natives,  who  gave  the  new  comers  a  hearty  recep- 
tion. After  further  exploration,  made  westwards  along 
the  coast,  and  having  discovered  the  Isle  of  Pines,  that 
he  called  Isla  del  Evangelista,  he  sailed  once  more 
eastwards  and  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  Hatibdnico 
on  Sunday,  the  6th  of  July,  1494. 

His  first  action  there  was  to  thank  the  Almighty  for 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  539 

having  preserved  him  and  his  men  after  so  many  dan- 
gers and  tribulations  they  had  been  in.  To  that  effect 
he  ordered  that  a  rustic  altar  be  provided,  and  on  this 
the  first  mass  was  celebrated  on  Cuban  soil. 

Natives  in  large  numbers  witnessed  the  imposing 
ceremonial,  and  were  greatly  and  favorably  impressed 
with  the  sight  of  it.  An  old  man,  whom  all  other 
Indians  seemed  to  respect,  was  deeply  moved,  and, 
through  interpreter  Diego,  addressed  Columbus  in  the 
following  words  : 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  just  done  a  good 
thing,  for  you  have  worshipped  your  God.  Although, 
as  I  hear,  you  come  from  foreign  lands  with  great 
armaments  to  conquer  many  nations  and  countries,  do 
not  fill  yourself  with  pride  for  that.  Know  you  that  in 
future  life  there  are  two  different  places  where  the  souls 
go  ;  one  is  full  of  pleasures  and  happiness,  and  is  re- 
served for  those  who  were  good  ;  in  the  other  one, 
which  is  dark  and  horrible,  the  bad  are  to  groan.  If 
you  are  a  mortal  and  fear  eternal  punishment,  do  not 
harm  those  who  do  not  harm  you,  and  you  v^ill  surely 
get  your  reward." 

Columbus  also  felt  deeply  moved  by  the  words  of 
the  old  Indian,  and  answered  him  he  was  glad  to  see 
that  the  belief  of  those  natives  was  so  similar  to  the 
principles  of  true  religion  ;  that  the  king  and  queen  of 
Spain  had  not  sent  him  to  subject  people,  but  to  further 
enlighten  them  with  the  teachings  of  true  religion,  and 
to  protect  them  against  the  raids  of  their  cruel  enemies, 
the  Caribbeans,  for  which  reason  all  Cubans  should  look 
upon  him  as  their  friend  and  defender. 

The  words  of  Columbus  and  what  the  interpreter 
added  in  regard  to  the  power  and  riches   of  the  Castil- 


540  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA, 

ian  monarchy,  made  the  old  Indian  to  feel  so  much  as- 
tonishment and  gladness  that  he  wanted  to  sail  with 
the  Spaniards  and  see  the  European  countries,  but  his 
wife  and  children  pleaded  so  earnestly  with  him,  much 
to  his  sorrow,  that  he  finally  desisted  from  his  intended 
voyage. 

This  is  the  account  of  the  discovery  of  the  use  of  to- 
bacco, as  given  by  Father  Las  Casas,  in  his  "  General 
History  of  the  Indians  :  " 

"  Hallaron  por  el  caminomucha  gente  que  atravesa- 
ban  a  sus  pueblos,  mugeres  y  hombres  :  siempre  los 
hombres  con  un  tizon  en  las  manos  y  ciertas  yerbas 
secas  metidas  en  una  cierta  hoja  seca  tambien  a  manera 
de  mosquete  hecho  de  papel  de  los  que  hacen  los  mu- 
chachos  la  Pascua  del  Espiritu  Santo,  y  encendido  por 
una  parte  de  el,  por  la  otra  chupan  6  sorben  6  reciben 
con  el  resuello  por  adentro  aquel  humo  ;  con  el  cual  se 
adormecen  las  carnes  y  cuasi  emborracha  y  asi  diz  que 
no  sienten  el  cansancio.  Estos  mosquetes  6  como  los 
llamiremos,  llaman  el  los  tabacos!' 

TRANSLATION  : 

"They  met  on  the  way  many  people  who  were  going 
to  their  villages,  both  women  and  men  ;  the  men  always 
carrying  in  their  hands  a  burning  piece  of  wood  and 
certain  dry  herbs  rolled  in  a  certain  leaf,  also  dry, 
in  the  fashion  of  those  paper  tubes  the  boys  make  on 
the  feast  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  it  is  burning  on  one 
end,  while  from  the  other  endthey  puff  or  draw  or  take 
out  with  the  breath  from  the  inside  that  smoke  with 
which  they  get  drowsy  and  almost  drunk  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  in  this  way  they  do  not  feel  fatigue.  These 
tubes,  or  whatever  we  may  call  them,  they  call  tabacos" 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  541 

These  are  the  words  of  Las  Casas.  It  may  be  added, 
that  the  name  of  the  weed  was  not  tabaco,  the  meaning 
of  the  word  tabaco  corresponds  exactly  to  what  we  now 
call  cigar,  but  the  name  of  the  manufactured  article  was 
afterwards  extended  to  the  plant  producing  the  leaf 
used.  The  Indian  name  for  the  plant  and  leaf  was 
Cohiba. 


542  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

LATEST    NEWS    FROM    THE    SEAT    OF    WAR. 

Monotony  of  Military  Situations — The  Trocha  as  a  Delusion — Fighting 
General  Pando  Goes  Home — Strange  Paralysis  of  Spanish  Forces 
— How  it  Pays  to  keep  Full  Prisons — Corrupt  Sluggards — Weyler 
and  the  Front,  and  Sharp-shooters — The  Battle  of  Cacarajicara — 
The  Island  becoming  a  Cinder  Path — The  Massacre  of  Horses — 
Battle  of  Manzanillo— The  Fever — One  Good  Work  Going  On — 
American  Responsibility  Considered. 

The  journey  of  the  author  to  Cuba,  undertaken  while 
General  Campos  was  on  the  way  from  the  scene  of  his 
failure  to  Spain  and  General  Weyler  was  getting  under 
way  for  the  scene  of  his  failure,  Cuba,  was  to  find  and 
report  the  truth  ;  and  the  presumption  was  that  the  dif- 
ferent commanders  would  produce  remarkable  events 
and  influential  changes. 

This  was  in  January,  in  the  midst  of  the  campaigning 
season,  and  now  it  is  May,  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy 
season,  when  it  is  excessively  expensive  in  the  health 
and  strength  and  equipment  of  the  troops  to  keep  the 
field  engaging  in  active  work  ;  and  it  is  the  accustomed 
anticipations  of  those  who  have  had  experience  of 
Cuban  military  enterprise,  that  the  military  situation 
will  not  be  seriously  molested  for  six  months.  It  was 
not  vividly  remembered  by  those  who  expected  a  new 
captain-general  to  produce  immediate  revolutionary  re- 
sults, that  the  causes  of  the  disorder,  the  character  of 
the  people,  the  comparative  resources  of  the  peninsula 


CALIXTO    GARCIA. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY  545 

of  Spain  and  the  Island  of  Cuba,  would  continue  the 
elements  of  the  conditions  of  the  strife.  The  quarrel 
and  the  people  are  the  same  and  habits  grow  stronger 
than  the  will,  in  men  and  nations. 

After  giving  the  state  of  the  Island  the  closest  atten- 
tion of  which  a  careful  and  diligent  observer  was  capa- 
ble, and  seeking  to  subject  to  critical  analysis  that 
which  was  in  the  air  as  well  as  the  newspapers,  and 
there  was  a  good  deal  more  news  atmospheric  than  was 
printed,  the  conviction  came  that  the  dreary  struggle 
would  be  protracted  until  the  wealth  of  the  Island  was 
wasted,  the  people  utterly  impoverished,  the  country 
absolutely  ruined,  unless  there  should  arise  from  the 
tumultuous  upheavals  of  the  situation  changes  that' 
would  permit  the  separation  of  Spain  and  Cuba  on 
terms  that  would  not  be  dishonorable  or  humiliating  to 
either,  and  the  hopeful  logic  of  it  all  was  the  amicable 
annexation  of  Cuba  as  a  state  to  the  United  States. 

Nothing  phenomenal  has  happened  owing  to  the 
individualities  of  the  Weyler  administration.  Martinez 
Campos  was  so  slow  when  he  took  command  and  so 
roughly  handled  at  Bayamo,  and  General  Suarez  Val- 
des  was  so  distinctly  defeated  by  Gomez,  that  General 
Pando  was  sent  over  with  30,000  men  ;  and  then  the 
insurgents  were  not  checked,  but  seemed  to  be  rein- 
forced as  fast  as  the  Spaniards.  Weyler  brought  rein- 
forcements, and  10,000  good  troops  speedily  followed, 
but  the  Island  absorbed  them  without  a  symptom 
of  result,  and  the  aggressive  forces  of  Spain  have 
seemed  rather  to  relax  and  recede  than  become  alert 
and  advance,  and  while  there  are  at  least  1 30,000  regular 
troops  on  the  rolls  of  service  in  Cuba,  there  is  nothing 
new  to  show  for  them.     If  there  cannot  be  two  armies 


546  THE  STORY   OF  CUBA. 

of  50,000  men  each  massed  for  strenuous  and  sweeping 
operations — leaving  the  30,000  additional  Spanish  regu- 
lars and  the  60,000  volunteers  to  do  garrison  duty — it 
may  be  considered  a  settled  question  there  is  no  more 
hope  for  the  military  than  for  the  political  situation  of 
the  Spaniards  in  the  Island. 

Still  we  find  the  interest  centering  upon  the  alleged 
trocha,  which  has  become  a  synonym  for  doing  nothing, 
and  this  lunar  object  is  near  the  boundary,  between  the 
provinces  of  Havana  and  Pinar  del  Rio.  Now  this 
military  line  across  the  Island  has  been  the  favorite 
scheme  of  the  Spanish  tacticians  from  the  first,  though 
it  has  never  embarrassed  a  rebel  leader,  and  it  is  obvi- 
ously useless  unless  the  insurgent  forces  west  of  it  are 
under  the  necessity  of  crossing  it  for  lack  of  supplies  or 
are  hunted  from  their  lairs  with  a  vehement  alacrity  not 
indicated  in  any  quarter.  The  line  is  of  no  assistance 
to  the  government  except  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
insurgents  and  confine  them  to  be  hunted  down,  and 
they  are  in  no  hurry  if  appearances  and  accounts  are 
trustworthy,  and  the  hunters  are  sometimes  hunted. 

There  must  be  an  insurmountable  immobility  about 
the  Spanish  troops,  the  lethargy  established  by  incapac- 
ity in  handling  them,  or  something  would  happen  in  a 
few  weeks  when  there  are  50,000  Spaniards  within 
twenty  miles  of  10,000  rebels — who  have  no  base  of  op- 
erations and  must  live  on  the  country  and  confront  an 
enemy  wherever  they  face  the  sea. 

The  rumors  change  hourly  as  to  the  disposition  of 
the  Spanish  masses  and  Cuban  cavalry  that  should  be 
fighting.  Why  Gomez  moved  eastward  so  far  in  March, 
and  for  some  weeks  disappeared,  has  not  been  ac- 
counted for  with  precision,  and  therefore  the  news  that 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  547 

he  is  coming'  back  has  hardly  been  received  with  enthu- 
siasm. The  statement  that  he  was  drilling  recruits  and 
resting  his  men  may  have  been  true,  but  does  not  cover 
so  much  time  and  space  as  is  called  for.  Still  he  does 
not  seem  to  be  molested  as  he  rides  up  and  down  the 
country. 

There  are  several  reasons  assigned  for  Spanish  de- 
lays that  are  not  merely  of  a  military  or  political  char- 
acter. It  is  said  that  the  Spaniards  lack  dash,  because 
their  leaders  are  sluggish  and  corrupt,  and  there  is  a 
steady  shower  of  stories  that  a  great  deal  of  money  is 
to  be"  made  continually  out  of  an  army  of  100,000  men 
in  the  field,  and  as  many  more  about  the  towns.  The 
insurgents  claim  to  have  bought  cartridges  even  in 
Moro  Castle,  and  carried  them  out  in  market  baskets, 
exchanging  for  them  cigars  and  silver  ;  but  there  are 
so  many  vivid  imaginations  in  Cuba  that  no  one  knows, 
and  there  are  many  who  ought  to  care,  but  do  not. 

The  brother-in-law  of  Campos  has  the  reputation  con- 
ferred upon  him,  with  endless  particulars  of  gossip,  of 
making  millions  by  standing  between  the  army  and  the 
business  men  who  have  contracts  for  furnishing  sup- 
plies, and  the  specific  relation  of  mysteries  goes,  that 
the  supremely  important  fort  that  dominates  Havana 
from  the  land  side,  and  is  supposed  to  be  always  ready 
to  stand  a  siege,  bombard  the  city  if  necessary,  was 
found  by  Weyler  almost  destitute  of  arms  and  ammu- 
nition. These  reports  are  steadfastly  asserted,  and 
laigely  believed  to  have  many  facts  to  rest  upon,  be- 
cause there  is  corruption  in  all  sorts  of  Spanish  admin- 
istration, and  the  paralysis  of  the  army  thereby  ac- 
counted ioK ;  but  it  would  make  an  impression  of 
vindictiveness  to  charge  a  nation  with  paresis. 


548  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Walter  Dygert,  the  young  American  about  whose 
imprisonment  so  much  has  been  said,  gives  from  his 
own  experience  an  explanation  of  the  profitableness  of 
having  crowded  prisons,  in  these  terms  : 

"  A  child  may  weep  at  brambles'  smart. 
And  maidens  when  their  lovers  part; 
But  woe  worth  a  country  when 
She  sees  the  tears  of  bearded  men." 

These  lines  by  the  poet,  Scott,  recurred  to  me  when  I  saw  aged  men 
weeping  and  heart-broken  at  being  separated  from  their  families  and 
shut  up  in  this  hell. 

But  why  does  the  Spanish  government  shut  up  helpless  cripples  and 
non-combatants  ?  This  is  a  question  that  puzzled  me  for  some  time, 
but  I  finally  solved  it,  and  will  answer  it  after  I  have  described  the 
food  and  water. 

A  little  after  6  in  the  morning  we  were,  each  of  us,  given  a  very  small 
cup  of  coffee.  The  first  meal  of  the  day,  if  it  could  be  called  a  meal, 
came  after  9  o'clock.  It  consisted  of  a  little  rice,  which  was  generally 
dirty;  a  few  small  potatoes,  boiled  with  their  skins  on,  and  often  partly 
rotten;  a  little  piece  of  boiled  salt  beef,  or  beef  cut  up  in  small  bits, 
with  soup,  just  about  half  enough,  and  of  the  poorest  quality.  The  meat 
was  often  spoiled,  and  unfit  for  anything  but  a  vulture  to  eat.  The  sec- 
ond and  last  meal  of  the  day  came  about  4  in  the  afternoon,  and  was 
the  same  as  the  first. 

I  had  no  opportunity  to  count  the  prisoners,  but  I  learned  that  there 
were  about  180  on  the  average  confined  there.  I  learned  as  definitely 
as  I  could,  without  seeing  the  contract,  that  a  certain  party  had  a  con- 
tract to  feed  these  prisoners  at  twenty-five  cents  each  per  day.  Thus  he 
gets  $45  a  day,  and  I  learned  that  the  food  costs  him  only  $7  to  $8 
a  day,  and,  as  some  of  the  prisoners  did  the  cooking,  his  profit  can  be 
readily  seen.  On  such  a  contract  he  could  afford  to  divide  with  the 
judge  and  army  officers  to  keep  the  prison  full. 

Perhaps  there  is  money  in  keeping  camps  as  well  as 
prisons  full,  and  in  the  detention  of  garrisons  and  the 
stick-in-the-mud  strategy,  but  it  is  plain  there  is  much 
rotten  timber. 


HER    STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  549 

Walter  S.  Whitcomb,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  who 
made  the  most  remarkable  escape  on  record  from  Moro 
Castle  a  few  weeks  ago,  happening  to  have  money  in 
his  clothes  that  escaped  the  eyes  of  those  who  searched 
him,  and  using  it  judiciously  in  the  purchase  of  a  rope, 
had  been  for  some  time  in  the  camp  of  Maceo,  and 
gives,  in  an  interview  with  2i  Journal  reporter,  a  remark- 
ably intelligible  account  of  the  insurgents  : 

"  I  was  mustered  into  a  company,  and  if  I  had  been 
able  to  speak  the  Spanish  language  better  I  should  have 
been  given  a  command,  for  I  had  some  military  experi- 
ence, having  served  three  years  with  the  New  Hamp- 
shire state  militia  in  Keene,  N.  H. 

"  I  soon  found  out  how  badly  ammunition  was  needed, 
for  at  that  time,  you  know,  they  had  scarcely  any  arms, 
and  were  only  provided  with  machetes.  All  sorts  of 
queer  guns  were  carried,  but  only  a  few  Mauser  rifles. 

"  I  was  astonished  to  find  four  companies  of  women 
with  Maceo's  army.  They  were  of  ages  from  fifteen  to 
forty,  and  were  intensely  patriotic  and  very  brave. 
They  all  carried  machetes,  and  I  afterward  saw  them 
in  several  engagements,  in  which  they  displayed  as 
much  courage  as  the  men,  fighting  right  in  the  face  of 
bullets  and  cheering  on  the  men  like  demons.  Many 
of  them  were  mounted  on  horses  and  mules. 

"  I  was  in  this  camp  about  five  weeks.  There  were 
about  twelve  thousand  men  in  all.  Every  morning  we 
were  called  up  at  5  by  the  trumpeter,  and  a  few  hours 
were  spent  in  drilling.  We  had  several  skirmishes  with 
the  Spanish,  and  in  nearly  every  case  we  drove  them 
back,  taking  prisoners,  who  readily  joined  our  ranks. 
General  Maceo  succeeded  during  these  weeks  in  taking 
possession  of  the  entire  province  of  Pinar  del  Rio. 


550  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  The  insurgents  are  far  more  familiar  with  miUtary 
tactics  than  the  Spanish  soldiers,  who  seem  to  lack  or- 
ganization and  are  cowards  of  the  worst  sort.  Why, 
one  of  the  women  whipped  five  of  them  one  day  with 
her  sugar  cane  knife.  They  will  never  get  possession 
of  the  Island. 

"The  insurgents  have  natural  forts  which  the  Spanish 
cannot  approach.  Many  of  these  are  reached  only 
through  the  southern  swamps,  and  here,  safely 
ensconced  out  of  reach  of  the  enemy,  they  have  their 
hospitals.  They  know  the  entrances  to  these  swamps 
and  to  caves  in  the  western  part  of  the  Island,  where 
it  would  be  death  for  a  Spaniard  to  enter. 

"Much  food  is  sent  into  the  insurgent  camps  from 
sources  no  one  could  guess.  While  I  was  in  the  camp 
I  did  not  suffer  for  food  nor  for  kindness.  We  forao^ed 
a  great  deal  in  the  surrounding  country,  but  we  always 
obtained  food  from  friends  when  it  was  possible. 
General  Maceo  is  very  courteous,  and  when  people  ob- 
jected to  giving  food  or  arms,  he  always  explained  that 
he  would  regard  it  as  a  loan  and  that  they  would  be 
repaid  some  day  in  full. 

"  I  saw  little  cruelty  toward  the  Spanish  prisoners. 
Except  in  the  case  of  spies,  who  were  always  hung,  the 
prisoners  were  allowed  to  leave  if  they  wished,  after 
their  arms  had  been  taken  from  them.  In  most  cases 
they  joined  us." 

There  are  two  recent  Havana  despatches  that  may 
mean  something  out  of  the  common,  and  relieve  the 
dull  and  dreary  round  of  labored  bulletins  and  lively 
fiction.  One  is  that  General  Pando  has  delivered  the 
command  of  the  province  of  Santa  Clara  to  General 
Pri,  and  is  going  back  to  Spain.     The    other  point  is 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  55  I 

that  General  Weyler  is  making  ready  to  leave  Havana 
and  do  something  himself.  He  ought  to  be  ready  for 
a  start  by  this  time.  General  Pando  is  said  to  be  a 
man  of  whom  Weyler  is  jealous,  and,  therefore,  his 
absence  from  the  scene  would  be  welcome,  and  a  move- 
ment of  Weyler  in  the  field  would  probably  be  coinci- 
dent with  the  departure  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the 
lieutenant-generals  —  who  was  not,  it  is  said,  allowed 
the  troops  he  needed,  because  he,  being  a  fighting  man, 
might  do  something  conspicuous,  and  make  trouble 
for  his  superior  officer.  If  Weyler  goes  out  it  will,  of 
course,  signify  that  he  has  made  ready  for  a  strik- 
ing movement,  and  it  could  hardly  be  anything  else 
than  a  drive  at  Maceo  in  overwhelming  force,  and  with 
a  quick  step  unprjccedented  on  the  side  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

That  Weyler  may  be  up  to  some  desperate  work  be- 
fore acknowledging  himself  powerless  through  the 
rainy  season  would  be  in  character.  Among  the  in- 
teresting things  he  said  to  the  writer,  however,  was 
that  he  did  not  mean  to  regard  military  operations  as 
impracticable  during  the  wet  weather.  That  he  will 
have  to  take  some  personal  risk  in  the  field  is  certain, 
but  there  is  something  of  that  every  day  in  the  palace 
and  on  the  streets  of  Havana.  If  Maceo's  troopers 
knew  he  was  in  their  vicinity,  they  would,  no  doubt, 
however  he  might  be  guarded,  try  a  machete  charge, 
and  the  glory  of  getting  at  him  with  a  big  knife  would 
be  very  attractive.  The  greatest  danger  of  the  general 
would  probably  be  from  sharp-shooters.  Rifles  are  of 
such  long  range  now  that  in  the  hands  of  experts  they 
are  deadly  far  beyond  the  records  on  battlefields  up  to 
the  day  of  the  latest  improvements  in  arms  of  precision. 


552 


THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 


An  officer  is  not  safe  where  a  hostile  rifleman  can  make 
out  his  uniform  with  a  field  glass. 

The  Cubans  tell  of  a  sharp-shooter  with  Maceo,  who, 
two  months  ago,  had  killed  seven  Spanish  officers,  and 
they  managed  to  keep  him  well  supplied  with  car- 
tridges !  The  fall  of  Spanish  officers  in  numbers  out  of 
numerical  proportion  to  the  number  of  private  soldiers 
killed,  is  frequently  a  feature  of  the  reports,  though  it 
may  be  that  one  reason  is  the  death  of  an  important 
man  cannot  be  concealed. 

The'  recently  reported  heavy  fighting  in  the  west  be- 
tween Spanish  columns  and  detachments  from  Maceo's 
command  have,  no  doubt,  some  foundation,  but  there 
is  as  little  question  the  details  had  been  exaggerated. 
The  reports  of  superhuman  bravery  on  both  sides  are 
uncommonly  copious  and  urgent  just  now,  and  remind 
us  of  the  like  literary  enthusiasms  in  the  early  skirmishes 
of  our  civil  war.  After  we  had  heard  from  the  insur- 
gents about  their  superb  achievements,  carrying  every- 
thing before  them,  annihilating  regiment  after  regiment, 
the  Spaniards  captured  one  of  Maceo's  forts,  and  we 
read  of  the  "  storming  of  Cacarajicara,"  in  the  western 
Cuban  mountains,  and  there  was  a  march  "up  heights 
under  fire,"  ^nd  this  is  done  by  the  very  Inclan,  the 
Spaniard  whose  column  was  several  times  destroyed  in 
telegrams  by  way  of  Key  West. 

A  countryman  is  said  to  have  told  the  location  of 
Maceo's  camp.  As  it  has  been  for  a  month  within  fif- 
teen miles  of  the  Spanish  trocha,  there  should  not  have 
been  protracted  perplexity  in  finding  it.  A  movement 
was  made,  and  the  troops  pushed  "  forward  through  a 
scattering  fire  from  the  ambushed  rebels,  until  they 
reached  a  pocket  in  the  road,  where  a  town  showed  and 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  5  S3 

the  fortifications  above.  The  firing  was  now  general 
all  along  the  line.  Darkness  found  the  troops  in  this 
position.  They  were  kept  awake  all  night  under  con- 
stant fire,  with  no  food  or  drink.  At  the  first  sight  of 
dawn  the  Spanish  general  ordered  the  guns  to  the 
front,  to  attack  the  intrenchments.  The  insurgents 
made  an  assault  upon  the  artillery  men  with  their 
machetes,  but  were  "  driven  back  forty  feet  from  the  can- 
non by  a  wall  of  troops.  A  tall,  bearded  man,  stick  in 
hand,  urged  the  rebels  to  fall  on  the  Spaniards,  but  they 
refused,  and  retreated.  A  bayonet  charge  was  then 
ordered,  and  the  soldiers  patriotically  rushed  into  the 
ditch,  driving  out  the  rebels.  One  of  those  who  de- 
fended the  fort,  and  fled  with  the  others,  was  a  woman." 
The  return  march,  W'hich  was  made  immediately,  "  was 
very  difficult,  the  enemy  being  scattered*  all  through  the 
hills,  and  firing  from  every  point.  The  progress  was 
slow,  on  account  of  the  wounded  soldiers." 

Now  one  is  called  upon  to  have  misgiving  whether 
this  was  a  triumphal  way  of  returning  from  a  conquest. 
Suarez  Inclan  made  an  address,  thanking  his  soldiers 
for  their  valor,  which,  he  said,  "  deserved  a  place  in  the 
best  pages  of  Spanish  history."     He  said: 

The  enemy  was  concentrated  in  the  thick  woods  and  high  hills,  and 
the  road  was  well  fortified  with  trenches  at  different  points.  Our  posi- 
tion was  most  difficult. 

With  all  these  obstacles,  with  the  superior  forces  united,  trying  to 
defeat  and  destroy  us,  half  a  brigade,  formed  of  soldiers  of  the  San 
Fernando  and  Baleares  battalions  and  a  section  of  the  Fifth  Mountain 
artillery,  showed  true  heroism,  and  were  ready  to  conquer  or  die  for 
their  country.  They  proved  able  to  face  and  beat  the  enemy  that  tried 
to  surround  us  in  the  pass  of  Cacarajicara  on  our  return, 

I  was  much  pleased  with  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  under  severe  discipline. 
My  men  were  under  furious  fire  in  the  attacks  and  in  marching,  but  our 


554  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

efforts  were  crowned  with  victory,  and  the  efforts  of  Maceo's  forces,  the 
most  determined  of  the  insurrection,  were  foiled.  Those  of  Socarras 
gave  way,  leaving  us  a  position  that  might  have  been  impregnable.  We 
did  not  cede  a  foot,  though  Quintin  Bandera  attacked  us  at  night  and 
endeavored  to  recapture  the  hill. 

Maceo's  big  forces  also  tried  for  six  hours  to  harrass  our  rear  guard, 
endeavoring  to  make  disorder  in  the  column,  while  Pilar  Rojas  attacked 
the  head  and  left  flank.  The  fortifications  were  razed,  and  Socarras 
and  Pilar  Rojas  were  wounded.  Hundreds  more  ate  dead  and  wounded. 
It  was  not  possible  for  us  to  escape  serious  losses.  We  made  a  glorious 
sacrifice  for  our  country. 

There  is  an  exactness  in  this  that  arouses  suspicion. 
What  was  the  march  made  for  if  not  to  hold  the 
ground  ?  Why  is  stress  placed  upon  the  furious  efforts  of 
the  rebels  to  destroy  the  Spaniards  ?  The  rebels  are  really 
inadvertently  credited  with  taking  the  offensive.  It  is 
vague  to  say  hundreds  of  rebels  were  dead  and  wound- 
ed. It  is  not  giving  much  information  to  say  that  forti- 
fications were  razed.  "  Serious  losses,"  confessed  in  an 
affair  where  escape  from  a  bad  position  was  regarded 
as  a  victory,  means  much.  This  amounts  to  a  Spanish 
official  report  that  Maceo  is  well  fortified,  and  is  not 
troubled  at  all  about  the  trocha. 

The  despatch  by  James  Creelman,  of  May  6th,  via 
Key  West,  says  the  battle  in  the  mountain  at  Cacaraji- 
cara  was  a  Spanish  defeat ;  but  Maceo  was  not  there, 
being  six  miles  away,  looking  for  another  attack.  The 
fighting  was  severe,  and  sixteen  wounded  officers  have 
reached  Havana.   This  latest  from  this  correspondent  is  : 

"Gen.  Weyler  is  desperate,  and  insists  that  Gen. 
Maceo  must  attack  the  trocha  whether  he  wants  to  or 
not.  Otherwise  what  is  the  use  of  having  a  trocha  at 
all? 

"  Gen.  Maceo  intends  to  remain   in   the  hills  so  that 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  555 

when  the  rains  come  the  Spanish  in  the  low  country 
will  be  washed  out.  His  position  is  defended  on  all 
sides  by  well-built  breastworks. 

"  The  military  situation  in  the  Island  is  this  :  Maceo 
commands  in  the  west,  Garcia  in  the  east  and  Gomez 
in  the  middle,  with  authority  over  all. 

"  Gomez  is  in  a  position  to  go  to  the  support  of  either 
his  eastern  or  western  generals  or  to  have  them  r^.ne 
to  him."  , 

Concerning  the  jealousies  it  is  claimed  exist  among 
Spanish  officers,  preventing  full  and  energetic  em- 
ployment of  the  troops,  Captain -General  Weyler  has 
been  reported  to  have  said  that  it  spoiled  a  Spanish  of- 
ficer in  Cuba  ;  if  he  reached  rank  above  a  colonelcy,  he 
wanted  a  column  to  handle  for  his  own  convenience, 
and  grew  careless  about  obeying  orders,  A  few  weeks 
after  Weyler's  arrival  there  were  statements  current  in 
Havana  to  the  effect  that  several  prominent  officers 
were  to  be  sent  home.  Particulars  were  given  in  the 
case  of  General  Canalles,  and  Weyler  was  charged  with 
saying  of  him  that  he  "had  no  head"  and  couldn't  be 
useful — more  than  that  he  was  a  devoted  friend  of  Mar- 
tinez Campos,  and  therefore  under  suspicion  of  unfaith- 
fulness to  the  new  administration. 

He  had  a  high  reputation  as  a  fighting  man.  The 
Cubans  were  excited  over  the  Canalles  stories  and,  as 
the  general  was  about  to  sail,  I  called  upon  him  and 
had  a  frank  and  a  pleasant  talk  through  an  interpreter. 
I  found  the  redoubtable  general  a  middle-aged  man, 
very  bald  and  thin,  and  troubled  with  some  nervous 
affection — and  he  all  over  looked  the  old  campaigner. 
He  was  just  taking  leave  and,  asked  if  he  was  going 
away  for  personal  or  public  reasons,  he  said  he  "  was 

C— 32 


556  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

called  to  Soain  by  ill  health  and  personal  misfortune," 
and  his  shaky,  physical  condition  was  plain  enough.  It 
would  certainly  have  been  a  personal  hardship  and  dan- 
ger, even  if  practicable,  for  him  to  remain  in  the  field  ; 
and  a  death  had  occurred  in  his  family  that  deranged 
his  home  affairs  and  demanded  his  presence.  He  had 
not  been  removed  from  his  command  on  account  of 
differences  with  the  captain-general,  but  he  had  been 
identified  with  the  policy  and  the  fortunes  of  Martinez 
Campos.  He  was  an  Asturian,  and  that  meant  he  had 
no  politics,  but  his  sword  was  ever  ready  in  the  service 
of  his  queen  and  country.  When  an  Asturian  got  his 
orders  he  asked  no  questions  ;  and  as  he  turned  away 
to  take  the  ship,  that  hour  sailing  for  home,  he  gave 
me  a  cordial  invitation,  if  I  ever  found  myself  in  Spain, 
to  call  upon  him  at  his  home  in  Cordova. 

This  incident  seems  worth  relating  here,  to  show  that 
at  times  the  information  in  circulation  about  the  rela- 
tion of  the  captain-general  and  his  subordinates  may  be 
in  part  erroneous.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it,  however, 
that  General  Weyler's  plans  of  campaign,  and  especially 
his  attempted  quick,  bold  strokes,  have  been  embarrassed 
and  thwarted  by  the  habit  of  the  officers  of  not  getting 
their  columns  into  motion  on  time  and  pressing  to  the 
mark  with  the  alertness  and  perseverance  that  the  pro- 
fession of  soldiers  demands.  We  have  two  stories  of 
personal  difficulties — one  that  did  not  reach  the  point 
of  assault  with  General  Pando,  who  has  been  spoken  of 
as  the  probable  successor  of  Weyler  when  again  the 
head  of  a  commander-in-chief  on  the  Island  is  de- 
manded in  Spain  by  those  politicians  who  make  a  busi- 
ness of  fault-finding,  and  do  not  feel  happy  until  they 
are  furious. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  557 

A  Herald  correspondent  telegraphs  from  Havana, 
via  Key  West,  which  means  that  the  letter  was  sent  by 
private  conveyance  to  a  wire  that  is  not  subjected  to 
Spanish  censorship. 

"  Generals  Pando  and  Bernal  will  leave  for  Spain  on 
the  next  steamer.  General  Bernal  is  very  angry  at  the 
report  made  by  General  Weyler  about  General  Suarez 
Inclan's  recent  fight  with  Maceo's  troops  in  Pinar  del 
Rio  province.  He  says  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
join  Inclan's  forces  in  the  time  specified,  and  he  objects 
to  being  made  a  scapegoat. 

"  Bernal  had  angry  words  with  Weyler,  and  declared 
his  intention  to  go  to  Spain  at  once.  General  Weyler 
tried  to  dissuade  him.  Report  says  that  Bernal  told 
his  superior  if  he  were  not  the  captain-general  he  would 
have  to  fiorht  a  duel.  It  is  said  Bernal  intends  to  force 
Weyler  to  fight  when  the  captain-general  returns  to 
Spain.  Bernal  is  a  leader  of  the  republicans  in  Barce- 
lona, and  the  government  prefers  to  have  him  in  the 
field  than  at  home." 

The  y(9z^r;^<2/ has  this  from  Frederick  M.  Lawrence — 
his  last  despatch  from  the  seat  of  war — as  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  Island,  as  two  more  correspondents, 
Mr.  Creelman,  of  the  World,  and  Mr.  Lawrence,  have 
been  expelled  from  Havana  for  "  calumniating  the 
Spaniards,"  the  inevitable  offense  of  violating  Weyler's 
newspaper  articles  placing  handcuffs  on  the  press: 

"  General  Bernal  felt  that  Wevler  had  removed  him 
from  the  command  of  the  column  in  Pinar  del  Rio 
through  feelings  of  personal  enmity,  and  had  used  the 
alleged  failure  of  Bernal  to  take  his  column  to  the  as- 
sistance of  General  Inclan  at  the  battle  of  Cacarajicara 
as  a  pretext  for  paying  up  an  old  score. 


558'-  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  The  enmity  between  the  men  goes  back  to  the  days 
when  both  were  fighing  for  preference  in  Spain.  Ber- 
nal  was  instrumental  in  keeping  Weyler  from  attaining 
higher  honors  than  he  has  reached,  and  Weyler  has 
never  forgiven  him. 

"  It  is  supposed  that  General  Inclan  was  jealous  of 
Bernal's  superior  military  ability,  and  knowing  Weyler's 
hatred,  concocted  the  plan  whereby  it  was  to  appear 
that  Bernal  was  remiss  in  his  duty  at  Cacarajicara  with 
the  intention  of  giving  Weyler  an  opportunity  to  re- 
move Bernal  from  his  command. 

"  Inclan's  plan  worked  well.  He  reported  Bernal's 
failure  to  Weyler,  and  the  captain-general  lost  no  time 
in  humiliating  Bernal. 

"  Weyler  sent  a  heliograph  order  to  Bernal  to  report 
immediately  in  Havana.  Bernal  evidently  guessed 
what  was  in  store  for  him,  for  upon  his  arrival  in  Ha- 
vana he  changed  his  military  uniform  for  the  dress  of  a 
private  citizen.  In  this  garb  Bernal  went  to  the  palace. 
He  was  received  with  every  outward  show  of  courtesy 
by  Weyler,  and  two  orderlies,  who  were  conversing  with 
Weyler,  were  asked  to  step  aside,  and  they  retired  to  a 
corner  of  the  room  out  of  reach. 

"  Weyler  then  asked  Bernal  why  he  appeared  before 
his  superior  in  civilian  garb.     Bernal's  answer  was  : 

"  '  I  expect  in  a  few  minutes  to  have  no  use  for  my 
uniform,  and  desired  to  save  myself  the  inconvenience 
of  changing  my  dress  later  on.' 

"  Weyler  then  requested  Bernal  to  give  his  version  of 
the  failure  of  the  battle  of  Cacarajicara.  What  Bernal 
told  is  not  known. 

"  What  is  known  is  that  General  Bernal,  at  the  end 
of  a  few  minutes,  arose  from  his  chair  and  said  : 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  559 

"  *  I  understand  then  that  I  am  to  return  to  Spain  and 
am  no  longer  your  subordinate  officer.* 

"  At  the  same  time  General  Weyler  arose  and  repHed  : 
'  That  is  my  order.' 

"  Bernal  took  one  step  backward,  folded  his  arms  and 
looked  Weyler  square  in  the  eyes. 

"  '  If  that  is  the  case  we  meet  on  level  ground,  and  I 
desire  to  inform  you  that  in  your  conduct  of  the  war 
you  have  shown  yourself  to  be  nothing  less  than  a 
traitor  to  your  country.  If  Cuba  is  lost  to  Spain,  it  will 
be  because  of  your  misconduct,  and  whether  it  was 
through  ignorance  or  design,  it  was  none  the  less  trea- 
son. Permit  me  also  to  say  that  my  personal  estima- 
tion of  you  is  that  you  are  a  liar  and  a  poltroon.' 

"  Weyler  was  white  with  rage.  His  orderlies,  who 
heard  what  Bernal  had  said,  when,  through  anger,  he 
raised  his  voice,  started  up  from  their  seats  and  hurried 
across  the  room. 

"  They  saw  Weyler  draw  his  arm  back  as  though  to 
strike  Bernal,  but  the  general  was  too  quick  for  him. 

"  Bernal  raised  his  hand,  and  disdaining  to  strike  with 
his  clinched  fist,  he  delivered  a  stinging  smack  with  the 
palm  of  his  right  hand  upon  Weyler's  left  cheek. 

"  The  captain-general  staggered  back,  but  recovered 
himself  instantly  and  sprang  at  Bernal.  He  seized  the 
younger  general  by  the  throat,  and  so  savage  was  the 
attack  that  Bernal  was  forced  half  way  across  the  room. 
By  this  time  the  orderlies  had  seized  Bernal,  and  with  a 
jerk  they  tore  him  from  Weyler's  grasp. 

"  The  captain-general  recovered  his  senses  instantly 
and  waved  his  arm  to  Bernal.  He  told  the  orderlies  to 
take  him  away.  The  orderlies  started  from  the  room, 
and  Weyler  walked  back  to  his  desk. 


S^O  THE   STORY  OF  CUBA. 

"  Before  Bernal  and  his  custodians  had  reached  the 
door,  VVeyler  commanded  them  to  stop.  He  then  or- 
dered the  two  officers  to  retire  again  out  of  earshot,  and, 
walking  up  to  Bernal,  Weyler  stood  in  front  of  him 
with  arms  folded,  his  whole  body  trembling  with  emo- 
tion, and  for  fully  a  minute  the  two  men  glared  into 
each  other's  eyes. 

"  General  Weyler  said  something  in  a  low  tone  to 
Bernal,  who  was  heard  to  reply  : 

"  *  In  Spain,  sir,  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  grant  the 
favor  you  ask. ' 

"General  Weyler  returned  to  his  desk,  beside  which 
he  stood  for  a  moment,  looking  at  Bernal,  and  then  he 
made  a  profound  bow.  In  return  Bernal  bowed  very 
low. 

"  '  Is  this  interview  at  an  end  ?  Have  I  your  permis- 
sion to  retire  ?'  asked  Bernal. 

"  '  You  may  retire,  sir,'  said  General  Weyler.  '  I  have 
nothing  more  to  say,' 

"  Agam  the  two  men  bowed  very  low,  and  Bernal 
left  the  room.  He  went  straightway  from  the  palace, 
and  Weyler  has  not  seen  him  since." 

There  is  a  certain  verisimilitude  about  this  that,  sup- 
ported by  consistency  at  all  points  with  the  known 
facts,  is  convincing  that  there  is  substantial  accuracy 
in  the  statement.  The  personal  quarrel  develops  public 
facts.  It  displays  that  the  inside  Spanish  view  of  the 
battle  of  Cacarajicara  was  a  defeat  of  the  Spanish 
troops,  and  not  the  victory  of  the  official  proclamations. 
It  was  a  defeat  of  the  Spanish  at  their  sore  point,  it 
being  the  first  serious  effort  made  by  the  captain- 
general  to  use  his  celebrated  trocha  as  a  guard  for  of- 
fensive   operations.      The    Spanish,    with    the    sea    at 


'^ 


^ 


>^ 


> 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  563 

their  disposition  and  a  line  drawn  across  the  Island, 
have  Maceo  surrounded  in  theory,  and  the  test  of  pos- 
session was  made  in  hurrying  converging  columns  to 
capture  the  insurgents'  stronghold  in  the  mountains. 

If  Maceo  would  not  attack  the  trocha,  why  thetrocha 
must  attack  him,  and  the  result  was  the  combat  from 
which  the  Spaniards  retired  sorely  harrassed  with  heavy 
losses,  and  meriting,  as  their  commander  said  in  his 
official  report,  "one  of  the  best  pages  in  Spanish  his- 
tory." There  were  two  circumstances  especially  obnox- 
ious to  the  captain-general.  One  was,  Maceo  himself 
was  not  in  the  fight,  but  six  miles  away,  and  rebel  suc- 
cess was  won  by  a  subordinate.  There  was  a  sting  in 
this  that  struck  deep  and  rankled.  The  other  provok- 
ing point  was,  that  the  Spanish  column  that  was  ordered 
to  support  the  one  that  suffered  heavily,  was  not  on 
time,  and  certainly  there  could  be  nothing  better  calcu- 
lated to  provoke  the  fierce  resentment  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  indeed  to  justify  it  entirely. 
Whether  he  picked  up  the  right  man  for  a  victim,  or 
selected  one  according  to  his  personal  proclivities,  we 
have  not  testimony  for  decision.  There  is  other  evi- 
dence that  the  Spaniards  were  hurt  in  their  venture  into 
the  mountains  occupied  by  Maceo. 

They  have  not — if  they  had  the  successes  they  claim 
— followed  them  up,  but  have  lingered  about  their 
block  houses  and  along  the  ditches.  The  Cacarajicara 
affair  seems  to  have  revealed  a  fatal  flaw  in  the  Spanish 
system,  to  have  exposed  its  deficiency,  and  it  may  be 
even  as  grave  as  a  condition  of  demoralization  that 
results  in  tardiness  and  insubordination.  That  Wey- 
ler  has  many  enemies  in  the  Spanish  army  there  is 
no   question.      Mutterings  were  heard  early  in  March 


564  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

when  he  cleared  the  high  officers  from  their  comforts  in 
the  hotels  of  Havana  and  forced  them  to  the  field. 
Some  of  them  may  find  no  more  handy  method  of  doing 
the  business  of  malice  than  personally  seeing  to  it  that 
the  military  combinations  shall,  at  their  most  critical 
stage,  fail  of  success — and  there  is  no  way  so  easy  to 
manage  this  as  by  the  contrivance  of  delays. 

It  is  reported  from  Havana  that  Gen.  Weyler  has 
made  efforts  to  induce  five  thousand  of  the  Havana 
volunteers  to  hold  a  section  of  the  trocha  and  allow  a 
like  number  of  regulars  to  be  freed  for  field  service. 
There  has  been  no  more  delicate  and  dangerous  opera- 
tion undertaken  than  this.  The  volunteers  are  inde- 
pendent in  an  important  sense.  They  keep  their  guns 
day  and  night  in  their  hands,  and  they  are  not  subjected 
to  the  direct  orders  of  the  captain-general,  except  with 
well  understood  and  carefully  guarded  limitations. 
Perhaps  the  volunteers  may  flinch  from  going  to  the 
field,  even  to  the  extent  of  managing  the  trenches.  They 
may  very  much  prefer  their  twice-a-day  parade  in  Ha- 
vana with  music  and  clean  dry  clothes,  to  muddy 
ditches  and  the  chance  of  hearing  the  wild  tramping 
of  horses  and  the  war-cry  "  machete,  machete  ;  "  and 
they  may  ask  such  an  incisive  question  as  this.  "  Why 
not  place  us  as  guards  of  the  forts  of  Havana  ?  " — espe- 
cially those  on  the  hills  that  were  constructed  to  com- 
mand the  town  rather  than  to  defend  it. 

The  captain-general  should  refuse.  Why  ?  Because 
in  the  present  juncture  he  would  not  dare  to  place  the 
keys  of  the  capital  city  in  any  hands  but  those  of  the 
chosen  regulars  of  Spain.  Such  a  slip  would  promote 
the  issue  that  must  be  met  some  day,  but  that  it  is 
Spanish  policy  to  defer.     The  attempt  to  use  the  vol- 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  ,565 

unteers  on  the  trocha  may,  however,  precipitate  the 
time  for  balancing  the  books.  When  it  becomes  per- 
fectly known  in  Cuba,  Havana  in  particular,  that  the 
cause  of  Spain  is  hopeless — and  that  the  continuance 
of  the  war  means  the  total  bankruptcy  of  the  business 
men — the  obliteration  of  the  money-making  along  with 
the  end  of  sugar  making  and  the  devastation  of  the  to- 
bacco fields,  there  will  be  a  true  crisis.  And  whether 
the  Spaniards  fight  or  wait,  dig  or  march,  they  do  not 
succeed  in  accomplishing  results  that  change  the  disas- 
trous conditions  of  the  Island. 

What  is  the  reason  the  Spaniards  do  nothing  decisive 
with  their  two  hundred  thousand  men  ?  The  general 
explanation  is  that  the  answer  must  be  perplexing  and 
uncertain.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  plain  and  easy  and 
conclusive.  The  Cuban  patriots  on  the  Island  have  a 
majority  over  those  who  favor  the  Spanish  cause  of 
over  a  million.  The  Spaniards  are  not  children  or  cow- 
ardly or  imbecile.  Numerous  and  strong,  and  drilled  as 
they  are,  they  are  confronted  by  an  awful  array- — a 
million  people  fighting  in  blood  and  ashes  to  the  death, 
with  knife  and  torch  ! 

General  Weyler  said  to  the  Herald  correspondent 
that  he  expelled  Creelman  because  the  story  of  a  mas- 
sacre he  sent  was  "  false,  absolutely  false,"  and  he 
added  :  "  I  refused  to  permit  it  to  be  transmitted  from 
here.  I  suppose  it  got  to  the  United  States  by  way  of 
Key  West  or  Tampa." 

The  general  was  asked  :  "  May  there  not  be  instances 
of  cruelty  ;  instances  of  shooting  innocent  persons  in  a 
force  as  large  as  that  which  you  command  ? " 

The  general  replied  :  "Such  things  may  occur,  as  for 
example,   the  other  day,  when  a  rebel  shot  at  some 


566  THE   srORY  OF  CUBA. 

Spanish  troops,  who  were  passing,  crying  at  the  same 
time,  *  Vive  Cuba  Libre,'  the  troops  fired  at  a  house 
whence  the  shots  came,  and  in  which  non-combatants 
were  at  the  time.  My  troops  supposed,  naturally,  that 
all  those  within  were  rebels,  and  fired,  Under  such 
circumstances  innocent  persons  may  be  hurt." 

The  general  said  as  to  threats  that  he  was  to  be 
assassinated  and  his  habit  of  going  about  unattended  : 
"I  go  out  regularly  at  night  unattended.  I  now  receive 
practically  no  personal  threats.  When  I  first  assumed 
office  I  received  threats  from  the  United  States.  One 
letter  said  that  a  woman  would  come  here  and  kill  me. 
Since  then  I  have  received  every  woman  who  called." 

"Young  ladies  ?" 

"  Yes,  when  they  have  come  I  have  seen  all." 

And  the  general  told  the  Herald  he  was  going  to  be 
on  the  offensive  all  summer.  A  sugar  broker  in  Havana, 
commenting  on  General  Weyler's  latest  declaration  that 
the  rebellion  will  be  put  down  in  two  years,  says  Cuba 
will  be  *'a  mere  cinder  path"  before  that  time,  and  he 
added : 

"  It  has  been  said  that  the  work  of  the  torch  must 
end  somewhere,  but  fires  continue  to  crackle  merrily 
all  over  the  Island,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  An  inevit- 
able result  of  this  form  of  campaign  has  been  the  levy- 
ing of  blackmail  by  minor  chiefs.  A  wealthy  man 
informed  me  yesterday  that  he  had  beerw  notified  by 
the  insurgents  in  charge  of  the  district  where  his  prop- 
erty is  located  that  it  would  be  spared  for  the  consid- 
eration of  $6,000.  As  the  buildings  cost  more  than 
$250,000,  the  owner  would  gladly  pay  the  $6,000  if  he 
knew  that  he  would  receive  protection.  He  fears,  how- 
ever, that  if  he  pays,  the  rebel  officer  will  be  transferred 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR   LIBERTY.  567 

to  some  other  section  of  the  Island  and  his  successor 
will  immediately  apply  the  torch.  Something  of  that 
kind  recently  happened  in  Matanzas  province,  where  a 
building  was  burned  after  $500  had  been  paid  to  pro- 
tect it. 

Another- result  of  the  war  may  be  the  practical  ex- 
termination of  the  Cuban  breed  of  horses  that  are  not 
unlike  Texas  mustangs  in  appearance,  small,  wiry  and 
very  strong.  Horses  have  always  thrived  here,  and 
there  was  an  enormous  number  of  them  on  the  Island 
when  the  war  began.  Since  then  the  slaughter  has 
been  going  on,  Spaniards  and  insurgents  alike  killing 
all  those  found  in  the  country  that  they  could  not  use 
themselves,  to  prevent  them  from  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

It  is  this  destructiveness  going  on  with  accelerating 
vindictiveness  that  is  joined  to  the  ferocity  with  which 
the  people,  trying  to  save  themselves  by  neutrality,  are 
assailed  that  mark  for  the  worse^  the  progress  of  the 
war.  A  letter  from  Cuba  Libre,  dated  in  camp  Aline, 
,  April  1 6th,  from  Mariano  Torres,  in  which  he  made  this 
reference  to  General  Gomez :  "  I  am  now  at  the  head  of 
the  Cuban  forces  in  this  rich  and  important  part  of  Las 
Vilas,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  a  few  days  ago  of  receiv- 
ing a  visit  from  the  commander-in-chief."  M.  Torres 
writes,  the  Spaniards  "have  decided  to  ruin  and  devas- 
tate the  country,  and  kill  all  the  peaceful,  harmless, 
and  defenseless  people  they  find  in  the  way,"  and  the 
letter  proceeds  with  the  account  of  half  a  dozen  mas- 
sacres. 

A  Santiago  de  Cuba  despatch  gives  his  accounts  of 
the  capture  of  Spanish  trains — the  most  important  affair 
being  at  Manzanillo,  April  21st.     The  Spanish  column 


568  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

was  "  taking  a  large  convoy  to  Venecia.  A  bloody 
engagement  began,  and  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half.  As 
the  insurgents  occupied  excellent  positions,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  disorganizing  the  column  completely,  and 
nearly  the  whole  convoy  fell  into  their  possession. 
They  took  twenty  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  ten  carts 
drawn  by  mules,  and  eighteen  mules.  The  articles  cap- 
tured were  Mausers,  cartridges,  clothes,  medicines,  and 
provisions. 

"In  the  combat  the  rebels  had  a  captain  and  twenty- 
eight  soldiers  killed  and  fifty-seven  wounded.  The 
Spaniards  had  seventy  killed  and  107  wounded,  among 
the  latter  Captain  Castelvi,  of  the  Veguita  Guerillas." 

Now  this  is  the  most  definite  and  certain  account  of 
a  fight  we  have  had  for  a  long  time. 

The  Spaniards  with  their  slow  ships  are  avoided  at 
sea  as  their  slow  columns  are  evaded  on  land.  The 
Bermuda  is  faster  than  the  Spanish  cruisers,  and  if  she 
has  succeeded,  as  often  reported,  in  throwing  into  the 
insurgents'  hands  machine  guns,  with  abundant  ammu- 
nition and  expert  American  gunners,  the  rebels  will  be- 
come aggressive. 

The  Spanish  official  reports  unconsciously  pay  the 
tribute  to  the  rebels  that  they  did  not  permit  to  the 
Havana  newspapers,  or  to  pass  over  the  direct  line  of 
wire — this  account  of  the  Bermuda  in  her  latest  expedi- 
tion, which,  however,  receives  full  confirmation  : 

"The  Bermuda  landed  two  Gatling  guns,  1,000  rifles, 
most  of  them  Mausers,  500,000  rounds  of  ammunition, 
and  1,000  pounds  of  dynamite.  It  is  Vidal's  intention 
to  report  at  General  Maceo's  headquarters  immediately. 
The  ammunition  is  for  Maceo's  army,  and,  at  his 
request,  the  cartridges  are  designed  for  the  Mauser  rifles, 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  569 

with  which  the  insurgents  in  Pinar  del  Rio  are  now  very 
well  supplied.  On  account  of  their  superior  penetrat- 
ing" power,  it  is  Maceo's  intention  to  use  them  against 
the  numberless  small  forts  which  General  Weyler  has 
established  along  his  military  trocha  between  Mariel 
and  Majana. 

There  is  threatened  a  case  closely  resembling  that  of 
the  Lopez  and  Virgmius  captures  and  executions  of 
citizens,  and  arising  from  the  same  line  of  indiscretion 
or  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Autonomists  of  Spain.  The 
Cuban  insurgents  and  their  unqualified  sympathizers 
above  all  things  hope  for  affairs  that  will  cause  hostile 
relations  between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  If  a 
little  American  blood  could  be  shed  so  as  to  have  the 
desired  effect,  it  would  be  regarded  far  more  impor- 
tant than  a  bloody  engagement  going  against  the  Span- 
iards. That  there  are  expeditions  on  the  sea  and  in 
course  of  preparation  to  bear  recruits  and  munitions  of 
war  to  the  Cubans,  is  not  denied.  It  is  a  matter  of  ad- 
vertising ;  it  is  proclaimed  by  the  press  through  the 
Associated  Press  and  the  United  Press  agencies,  and  is 
exploited  by  special  correspondents.  When  a  ship  gets 
through,  the  warlike  character  of  the  crew  and  cargo  is 
celebrated  ;  and  when  one  is  captured,  the  innocence  of 
all  parties  is  proverbial. 

It  is  the  better  way  to  tell  the  facts  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  it  becomes  a  great  nation  to  be  candid  and 
thoroughly  truthful.  The  ill-fated  Lopez  expedition 
sailed  from  New  Orleans  as  if  enjoying  a  triumph,  and 
was  met  on  the  coast  of  Florida  with  decoy  letters,  by 
which  the  unfortunate  men  were  lured  to  their  doom. 
The  Spaniards  had  received  from  the  United  States  full 
information.     The    filibusters    left    little    for   the   spies 


570  THE   STORY   OF  CUBA. 

to  report.  The  claim  of  the  officers  of  the  Virginius  was 
that  she  was  an  innocent  American  ship,  and  was 
taken  in  neutral  waters  with  regular  papers,  and  the 
people  on  her  were  warned  ;  and  yet  the  pleas  were 
rather  technical  than  actual,  for  the  ship  was  loaded 
with  fire-arms  that  were  thrown  away  in  the  chase. 
Then  the  men  were  slaughtered  as  we  have  related, 
American  citizens  along  with  the  rest,  but  the  law  and 
the  facts  made  a  complication  such  that  President 
Grant,  Secretary  Fish  and  Minister  Sickles  extricated 
the  country  by  a  vigorous  course  of  action  that  ap- 
proached war,  and  accepted  concessions  so  as  to  se- 
cure peace. 

The  crew  of  the  American  schooner.  Competitor,  have 
been  tried  by  court-martial  at  Havana  and  condemned 
to  death.  There  is  a  clear  case  of  an  American  citizen 
among  the  condemned  ;  not  one  of  those  referred  to 
by  the  Spaniards,  in  the  most  merciless  spirit  as  "Cubans, 
self-made  American  citizens,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
sedition  in  Cuba,"  hoping,  if  caught,  to  be  protected  by 
the  United  States  or  to  stir  up  war  between  the  two 
nations.  There  are  so  many  American  citizens  provided 
with  naturalization  papers  in  Florida,  as  a  part  of  equip- 
ment for  aiding  war  against  the  Spaniards,  that  there 
is  a  perceptible  interference  with  the  defense  of  citi- 
zens who  are  undoubtedly  Americans  without  sinister 
purpose. 

It  has  been  a  complaint  against  Consul  -  General 
Williams  that  he  has  invented  the  classification  of 
American  citizens  into  actual  and  professional  Ameri- 
cans. He  may  not  have  done  this,  but  he  has  had  a 
large  and  instructive  experience  with  American  citizens 
whose  titles  they  could  not  always  read  clear,  and  one 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  5/1 

of  the  curiosities  of  taking  an  obligation  in  Havana, 
"  On  my  word  of  honor  as  a  native  American,  I  tell 
you  " — and  there  were  those  who  considered  this  rather 
more  binding  than  an  average  oath.  (It  should  be  un- 
derstood that  this  is  not  given  as  an  example  of  humor, 
but  as  a  statement  of  fact  ;  and  upon  this  my  word  of 
honor  as  a  native  American  is  given.) 

The  following  information  has  been  telegraphed  from 
Jacksonville,  Florida,  to  the  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States: 

Owen  Milton,  who  was  captured  by  the  Spanish  authorities  on  board 
of  the  Competitor  and  condemned  to  death,  left  Key  West  as  a  newspa- 
per correspondent,  hoping  to  consummate  plans  for  furnishing  reliable 
news  to  the  correspondents  of  the  Florida  Times-  Union  at  Key  West, 
who  in  turn  were  to  transmit  such  reports  by  cable  to  the  Southern  As- 
sociated Press  and  United  Press  through  the  medium  of  this  paper.  He 
must  have  had  with  him,  at  the  time  of  his  capture,  credentials  showing 
his  connection  with  the  Times-  Union  as  its  duly  authorized  representa- 
tive.    Such  a  letter  was  furnished  him  by  me. 

I  send  you  this  information  to  assist  you  in  your  efforts  in  behalf  of 
young  Milton. 

T.  T.  Stockton, 
General  Manager  Florida  Times-Union. 

It  is  not  certain  that  credentials  as  a  newspaper  man 
will  aid  Mr.  Milton  in  producing  a  good  impression  on 
the  captain -general,  whom  I  found  in  a  bad  humor 
with  correspondents.  When  asked  why  correspond- 
ents should  not  go  through  the  lines  and  report  the  facts 
about  the  rebels,  if  they  were  as  badly  off  as  he 
thought,  as  it  would  be  worth  something  to  his  cause  to 
have  his  opinion  confirmed,  he  said,  "all  these  Cubans 
are  editors  or  correspondents,  and  if  I  granted  the  per- 
mission suggested  to  newspaper  men,  I  would  have  the 
Cuban    cavalry  riding   through  our  positions    on    the 


5/2  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

press  passes."  Indeed,  he  insisted  that  correspond- 
ents were  much  worse  than  editors — that  the  editors 
were  deceived  by  false  information  given  by  letter 
writers. 

The  law  that  is  supposed  to  protect  American  citizens 
from  trial  by  martial  law  is  this  in  our  treaty  with  Spain  : 

No  citizen  of  the  United  States,  residing  in  Spain,  her  adjacent  islands, 
or  her  ultramarine  possessions,  charged  with  acts  of  sedition,  treason,  or 
conspiracy  against  the  institutions,  the  public  security,  the  integrity  of 
the  territory,  or  against  the  supreme  government,  or  any  other  crime 
whatsoever,  shall  be  subject  to  trial  by  any  exceptionable  tribunal,  but 
exclusively  by  the  ordinary  jurisdiction,  except  in  the  case  of  being 
captured  with  arms  in  hand. 

The  secretary  of  state  of  the  general  government  of 
Cuba,  the  Marquis  Palmerola,  said  the  statement  of  the 
Competitor  s  men  proved  they  had  arms  in  their  hands, 
but  Milton's  case  was  "  different  from  the  others." 

This  acknowledgment  of  difference  we  may  trust  will 
be  very  important.  Milton  is  the  only  one  of  the  cap- 
tured crew  who  is  an  American  citizen.  It  was  be- 
lieved Captain  -  General  Weyler  determined  to  have 
the  condemned  men  shot,  because  he  held  it  was  impor- 
tant to  prevent  the  filibusters  from  returning  upon  ex- 
peditions under  the  impression  they  are  picnics,  and  it 
happens  that  the  very  New  York  papers  that  give  the 
news  of  the  sentence  of  death  upon  the  Competitor  s 
crew,  have  accounts  of  two  other  expeditions — one 
starting  from  New  York — this  the  Laurada.  The  Junta 
disowns  the  Competitor  s  expedition.  The  sailing  of  the 
Competitor  was  from  Key  West,  on  the  night  of  April 
2oth.     The  Herald's  Key  West  correspondent  says  : 

"  General  Weyler  has  been  anxious  from  the  outset 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  573 

to  make  an  example  of  the  filibusters,  in  order  to  deter 
other  similar  expeditions  from  trying  to  land  on  the 
Cuban  coast.  Captain  Ladorde  and  his  companions 
are  the  first  filibusters  caught  in  this  war. 

"  It  is  believed  that  Weyler  objects  to  following  the 
advice  received  from  Spain,  not  to  execute  the  foreign 
citizens  captured  on  the  Competitor,  even  if  found 
guilty. 

"  The  cases  have  already  been  the  subject  of  lots  of 
diplomatic  correspondence.  Captain  Laborde  asserts 
that  he  has  been  treated  cruelly  by  the  Spaniards.  He 
showed  me  his  wrists  when  I  called  on  him  in  his 
cell  in  the  arsenal.  They  were  encircled  by  festering 
sores. 

"  He  says  that  after  his  arrest  a  stout  string  was  tied 
to  his  wrists,  and  an  iron  bar  placed  in  the  middle  and 
twisted  until  the  string  cut  into  the  flesh  around  the 
wrists,  in  an  effort  to  make  him  confess.  He  declares 
that  when  he  announced  that  he  was  an  American,  the 
Spaniards  threatened  to  shoot  his  companions  and  him- 
self immediately.  They  had  previously  shot  at  the 
mate  when  the  latter  attempted  to  raise  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  The  mate's  arms  are  badly  lacerated  by  ropes 
which  were  tied  around  the  biceps." 

The  question  over  the  disposition  of  the  Competitor  s 
men  is  the  most  serious  that  has  occurred  between  the 
governments  of  the  United  States  and  Spain  during  the 
Cuban  war.  The  insurgents  have  the  intensest  solici- 
tude that  something  very  serious  may  happen,  and  we 
are  told  the  secretary  of  state  is  in  a  condition  of  threat- 
ening excitement  on  the  subject,  and  that  the  president 
is  angry  and  very  determined.  There  is  too  much  ac- 
tual gravity  in  the  situation  to  permit   us  to  believe  in 


574  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

melodramatic  demonstrations  by  the  highest  officers  of 
the  government. 

The  fact  that  Washington  and  Madrid  are  in  commu- 
nication with  Havana  insures  full  if  fast  considera- 
tion. That  which  is  done  on  either  side  will  be  upon 
perfected  intelligence,  with  a  full  sense  of  responsibil- 
ity. At  the  moment  the  secretary  of  state  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  the  prime  minister  of  Spain,  and  the 
captain-general  of  Cuba  have  this  matter  in  hand,  and 
are  in  communication  by  cable,  we  are  entertained  by 
the  news  that  the  Bermuda  has  been  heard  from  again 
at  Honduras,  and  the  Laurada  is  off  from  New  York, 
and  there  is  no  sort  of  question  as  to  the  character  of 
these  vessels.  At  the  same  time  it  is  proposed,  with 
Jingo  vigor,  that  the  American  fleet  is  concentrating  in 
New  York  to  make  a  demonstration  at  Moro  Castle  and 
the  Spanish  palace  ;  but  the  yellow  fever  and  the  pes- 
tilential harbor  forbid  the  appearance  of  our  fleet  there 
on  any  lesser  errand  than  the  bombardment  of  Havana. 

There  are  so  many  points  of  resemblance  between  the 
Competitor  case  and  that  of  the  Virginius  that  the  pub- 
lic will  be  pleased  by  the  refreshment  of  recollection 
in  the  production  of  despatches  that  passed  in  1873  be- 
tween Secretary  of  State  Fish  and  Minister  Sickles. 
These  communications  are  highly  instructive  as  to  the 
attitude  of  our  country  regarding  the  rights  of  persons 
who  sail  under  the  national  flag,  and  show  they  will 
find  it  well  to  have  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  flag,  and 
be  able  to  prove  it. 

There  is  a  great  deal  said  in  the  United  States  of  the 
attitude  of  this  country  toward  Cuba  at  this. most  inter- 
esting juncture,  and  we  present  the  most  pertinent  of 
the  official  papers  : 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  575 

United  States  Legation  in  Spain, 

Madrid,  Nov.  14,  1873.  (Rec'd  Dec.  11.) 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  forward  herewith  a  copy  of  a  note  this  day- 
passed  to  the  minister  of  state,  in  which,  in  obedience  to  your  instruc- 
tion of  the  12th  inst.  by  cable,  I  have  protested  against  the  summary 
execution  of  the  captain  and  thirty-six  of  the  crew  of  the  Virginius  and 
sixteen  others,  by  order  of  the  Spanish  authorities  at  Santiago  de  Cuba. 
You  were  advised  in  my  telegram  of  last  evening  that  Mr.  Carvajal,  in 
your  interview  of  yesterday,  confirmed  the  report  published  in  the 
Havana  papers.  I  am,  etc.,  Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  15,  1873, 
Received  an  ill-tempered  note  to-day  from  minister  of  state,  rejecting 
protest,  and   saying  Spain  would,    nevertheless,    consider   and    decide 
questions  according  to  law  and  her  dignity.  Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  18,  1873. 
Minister  of  state  informs  me,  in  note  of  this   date,  that  the  reports 
mentioned  in  your  cable  of  15th  are  not  confirmed,  and  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, as  socn  as  the  captain-general  could  submit  to  Santiago  the  orders 
sent  by  this  government  on  the  6th,  the  executions  were  suspended. 

Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  19,  1873. 
Popular  feeling  runs  high  here  against  United   States  and  this  lega- 
tion.    Press  violent  and  abusive,  advising  government  to  order  me  out 
of  Spain.     Last  night  a  mob  was  collected  to  attack  and  sack  the  lega- 
tion.    The  authorities  interfered  and  preserved  the  peace. 

Sickles. 

Washington,  Nov.  20,  1873. 
Instructions  sent  yesterday  by  cable  authorize  you  to  defer  closing 
legation  in  order  to  allow  a  reasonable  time  to  Spanish  government  to 
ascertain  facts  in  response  to  their  request  through  minister  here,  pre- 
sented on  the  1 8th  inst.  No  other  postponement  has  been  agreed  to, 
and  minister  was  informed  that  a  satisfactory  settlement  would  be 
expected  by  the  26th.  Fish. 


5/6  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Madrid,  Nov.  20,  1873. 
Have  received  rejoinder  of  minister  to  my  reply  to  his  note  in  answer 
to  our  protest.  Neither  this  nor  either  of  the  three  communications  in 
writing  so  far  received,  contains  any  expression  of  regret  or  disapproval 
of  the  capture  or  the  slaughter  at  Santiago.  The  press  approves  the 
whole  business,  and  denies  that  any  censure  or  regret  has  been  expressed 
by  this  government.     The  ministerial  journals  acquiesce.        Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  21,  1873. 
Constant  efforts  are  made  by  this  cabinet  to  conciliate  England. 
Castelar  is  every  day  at  British  legation.  The  press  has  received  an 
official  hint  to  contrast  the  moderation  of  England  with  our  impatience. 
I  suspect  overtures  have  also  been  made  to  Germany  for  her  good 
offices.  Sickles. 

Washington,  Nov.  23,  1873. 
Have  telegraphed  to  Rome  for  authority  to  Italian  minister  to  take 
custody  of  library  and  property.  Spanish  government,  through  minister 
here,  proposed  arbitration,  which  has  been  declined,  on  the  ground  that 
the  question  is  not  one  for  arbitration,  the  subject  being  one  of  national 
honor,  of  which  the  nation  must  be  the  judge  and  custodian.         Fish. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Nov.  25,  1873. 
If  upon  the  close  of  to-morrow  no  accommodation  shall  have  been 
reached  in  the  case  of  the  Virginius,  you  will  address  to  the  foreign 
office  a  note  expressing  regret  at  the  delay  of  the  reparation  asked  for,  and 
stating  that,  in  conformity  with  instructions  from  your  government,  you 
were  under  the  necessity,  of  withdrawing  from  Madrid,  for  which  pur- 
pose you  request  the  usual  passport  for  yourself,  your  family  and  suite. 
If,  however,  the  accommodation  desired  should  be  brought  about  in  the 
course  of  to-morrow,  either  here  or  in  Madrid,  you  will,  until  otherwise 
directed,  abstain  from  addressing  the'  note  adverted  to.  Should  a 
proposition  be  submitted  to  you  to-morrow,  you  will  refer  it  here,  and 
defer  action  until  it  be  decided  upon.  A  telegram  has  just  now  been  read 
to  me  by  Admiral  Polo,  which  gives  reason  to  hope  for  a  satisfactory 
accommodation.  You  will,  therefore,  allow  the  whole  of  to-morrow  to 
pass  before  addressing  your  note.  Fish. 


HER  STRUGGLES  FOR    LIBERTY.  577 

Madrid,  Nov.  25,  1873. 
Layard  says  Granville  has  expressed  his  sense  of  the  justice  and 
moderation  of  the  reparation  we  have  demanded,  and  this  has  been  com- 
municated to  Castelar.  England  reserves  her  reclamation  for  the 
present,  and  endeavors  to  promote  a  settlement  of  the  question  pending 
between  the  United  States  and  Spain.  Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  26,  1873. 

At  half-past  two  this  afternoon,  half  an  hour  after  I  had  asked  for  my 
passports,  I  received  a  note,  dated  to-day,  from  minister  of  state,  in 
which  he  says  : 

First.  If  it  appear,  on  or  before  the  25th  of  December  next,  that  the 
Virginius  rightfully  carried  the  American  flag,  and  that  her  documents 
were  regular,  Spain  will  declare  the  seizure  illegal,  salute  the  flag  as 
requested,  and  return  the  ship  with  the  surviving  passengers  and  crew. 

Second.  If  it  be  proved  that  the  authorities  of  Santiago  de  Cuba,  in 
their  proceedings  and  sentences  pronounced  against  foreigners,  have 
essentially  infringed  Spanish  legislation  or  treaties,  this  government  will 
arraign  those  authorities  before  competent  tribunals. 

Third.  Any  other  reclamations  growing  out  of  the  affair,  which  either 
of  the  respective  governments  may  have  to  present,  will  be  considered 
diplomatically,  and,  if  no  agreement  be  reached,  they  will  be  submitted 
to  the  arbitration  of  a  third  power,  named  by  mutual  consent. 

Fourth.  If  the  25th  day  of  December  shall  have  expired  without  the 
Spanish  government  having  resolved,  in  so  far  as  comes  within  its 
province,  the  questions  arising  out  of  the  demand  for  reparation,  it  will 
hold  itself  bound  to  accord  such  reparation  the  same  as  if  the  right  of 
the  United  States  to  receive  it  were  recognized,  and  such  reparation  will 
be  given  in  the  form  specified  in  the  first  and  second  paragraphs. 

Sickles. 

Madrid,  Nov.  28,  1873. 
Last  night  it  was  agreed  here  informally  that,  accepting  my  declaration 
of  the  nationality  of  the  Virginius,  reparation  would  be  made  in  accord- 
ance with  our  demand  of  the  15th  inst.  This  was  ratified  by  the  council 
of  ministers  at  3  this  morning,  and  I  was  promised  an  official  communi- 
cation in  that  sense  to-day.  I  am  now  informed  in  a  note  from  minister 
of  state  that  yesterday  you  authorized  the  Spanish  minister  in  Washing- 
ton to  convey  to  this  government  a  different  proposition  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States,  and  that  it  has  been  accepted,  of  which  you  have  been 


578  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

notified  through  Admiral  Polo.  Please  let  me  know  whether  this  state- 
ment is  true.  The  only  instruction  I  have  had  from  you  since  my  four 
telegrams  of  the  26th,  is  a  copy  of  the  Senate  resolutions  passed  in  fifty- 
six.  Sickles. 

Washington,  Nov.  29,  1873. 
Remain  at  post.     Further  instructions  soon.     Settlement  being  effected 
here.  Fish. 

Madrid,  Dec.  15,  1875,  4:30  p.m. 
(Received  3:20  p.m.) 
President  Castlear  called  at  the  legation  this  afternoon  and  informed 
me  that  the  Virginius  and  survivors  had  been  surrendered  to  those  au- 
thorized to  receive  them  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.       Sickles. 

Madrid,  Dec.  20,  1873,  12:30  a.m. 
(Received  Dec.  20,  10:20  a.m.) 
It  is  stated  here  by  authority  that  in  consequence  of  a   communica- 
tion this  government  has   received  from  that  of  the  United  States,  in 
which  it  appears  the  Virginius  is   not  an  American   ship,  a  reclamation 
will  be  made  by  Spain  for  the  restoration  of  the  vessel  and  passengers. 

Sickles. 

Washington,  Dec.  20,  1873. 
(Sent  11:20  A.M.) 
Official  advices  received  of  surrender  of  survivors  from  Virginius. 

Fish. 

Madrid,  Dec.  26,  1873. 
(Received  Dec.  26,  p.m.) 
My  resignation  having  been  accepted,  I  now  respectfully  renew  my 
request  for  the  publication  of  the  correspondence  relating  thereto,  com- 
prising my  telegrams  of  the  6th,  i6th  and  20th  inst.,  and  your  replies  of 
the  6th,  17th  and  20th.  I  beg  that  this  request  may  be  submitted  to  the 
President.  Sickles. 

Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Dec.  31,  1873. 
Sir  :  On  the  26th  ult.,  General  Sickles'  No.  893,  arrived  at  this  de- 
partment during  my  absence  for  the  holidays.  In  it  he  states  that  it 
was  informally  agreed,  on  the  night  of  the  27th  of  November  last,  that 
on  a  declaration  made  by  him  of  the  American  nationality  of  the  Vir- 
giniuSy  the  vessel  and  surviving  passengers  and  crew  would  be  delivered 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  579 

Up,  the  flag  saluted,  and  the  other  measures  of  reparation  accorded  in 
conformity  with  our  demands  of  the  15th  inst.  It  is  greatly  to  be  re- 
gretted that  General  Sickles  did  not  state  with  whom  this  irrformal 
agreement  was  made. 

The  note  of  Mr.  Carvajal,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  which  accompanies 
General  Sickles'  despatch,  does  not  convey  the  idea  that  he  had  been  a 
party  to  that  agreement,  but  does  intimate  that  he  would  have  discussed 
some  of  the  points  raised  in  General  Sickles'  note  but  for  the  arrange- 
ment which  was  made  here. 

General  Sickles  further  says,  that  at  noon  on  the  28th  of  November, 
Mr.  Carvajal  sent  him  a  copy  of  a  telegram  from  Admiral  Polo,  contain- 
ing what  purported  to  be  a  fresh  proposal  from  me  respecting  the  Vir- 
ginius,  which  General  Sickles  appears  to  have  supposed  was  in  conflict 
with  the  informal  arrangement  of  the  previous  evening. 

Without  more  accurate  information  concerning  the  person  with  whom 
the  informal  arrangement  was  made,  I  cannot  permit  myself  to  think 
that  the  Spanish  government  receded  from  any  undertaking  which  it  had 
once  assumed. 

So  far,  however,  as  General  Sickles*  statement  may  be  supposed  to 
affect  this  government,  it  is  proper  to  say  that  the  changes  from  the 
original  demands  of  the  United  States,  which  were  agreed  to  in  the 
protocol  of  the  29th  of  November,  were  adopted  on  the  suggestion  of  the 
Spanish  government,  under  the  belief  that  they  did  not  affect  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  our  demands  were  founded,  and  were  calculated  to 
promote  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  unfortunate  differences  which  had 
arisen  between  the  two  powers. 

Spain  having  admitted  (as  could  not  be  seriously  questioned)  that  a 
regularly  documented  vessel  of  the  United  States  is  subject,  on  the 
high  seas,  in  time  of  peace,  only  to  the  police  jurisdiction  of  the  power 
from  which  it  receives  its  papers,  it  seemed  to  the  president  that  the 
United  States  should  not  refuse  to  concede  to  her  the  right  to  adduce 
proof  to  show  that  the  Virginius  was  not  rightfully  carrying  our  flag. 
When  the  question  of  national  honor  was  adjusted,  it  also  seemed  that 
there  was  a  peculiar  propriety  in  our  consenting  to  an  arbitration  on  a 
question  of  pecuniary  damages. 

This  happy  adjustment  of  the  difference  between  two  sister  republics, 
on  a  basis  honorable  to  both,  fortunately  makes  the  matters  referred  to 
by  General  Sickles  of  little  importance.  I  have  thought  it  right,  how- 
ever, to  correct  the  misapprehensions  under  which  his  despatch  seems  to 
have  been  written.     I  am,  sir,  etc.  Hamilton  Fish. 


S8o  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

Spain  did  not  long  remain  a  "  sister  republic,"  and  it 
made  no  difiference  to  Cuba  whether  she  was  or  not. 
Cuba  never  had  any  rights  Spaniards  were  bound  to 
respect. 

President  Grant  had  so  far  made  up  his  mind  that 
war  might  occur,  growing  out  of  the  attitude  of  Spain, 
that  he  directed  observations  and  studies  to  be  made  of 
the  fortifications  of  Havana,  and  ordered  officers  to 
obtain  certain  information  looking  to  operations  by- 
land  and  sea.  But  he  did  not  love  war,  and  accepted 
peace  with  alacrity. 

Nov.  12,  1877,  the  house  of  representatives  called  for 
a  report  from  the  secretary  of  state  on  the  Virginius 
indemnity,  and  received  the  following : 

Department  of  State, 
Washington,  Nov.  14,  1877. 

The  secretary  of  state,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  of  the 
house  of  representatives  of  the  12th  inst.,  requesting  him  to  **  inform  the 
house,  if  not  compatible  with  the  public  interests,  what  amount  of  in- 
demnity has  been  paid  to  this  government  by  the  government  of  Spain 
on  account  of  the  execution  or  General  Ryan  and  others,  at  Santiago  de 
Cuba,  Nov.  4,  1873,  ^""i  what  disposition  has  been  made  of  such  funds 
as  may  have  been  received,"  has  the  honor  to  report  to  the  president  that 
the  amount  of  indemnity  paid  by  the  government  of  Spain  on  that  ac- 
count was  80,000  Spanish  dollars,  yielding,  less  exchange,  the  sum  of 
$77,794.44  in  coin  ;  that  claims  thereon  have  been  settled  and  paid  to 
the  amount  of  $38,102  ;  that  a  claim  for  $2,500  has  been  settled,  but  is 
not  yet  paid  ;  and  that  the  unexpended  balance  of  the  Virginius  indem- 
nity is  invested  in  5  per  cent,  registered  bonds  of  the  United  States. 
The  secretary  of  state  has  also  to  state  that,  as  the  heirs  of  General  Ryan 
failed  to  prove  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  nothing  has  . 
been  paid  to  them  from  said  indemnity  funds. 
Respectfully  submitted. 

Wm.  M.  Evarts. 

To  the  President. 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  5^1 

There  is  a  gleam  of  good  news  from  the  east  end  of  the 
Island  where  the  insurgent  governor,  Carlos  Cespedes, 
is  at  work,  and  the  Spaniards  are  not  so  numerous  and 
active  as  to  give  much  trouble.  It  is  said  of  Cespedes 
that  while  the  Spaniards  and  insurgents  are  devastating 
the  west,  he  is  improving  the  east,  and  the  Herald  cor- 
respondent says : 

Work  shops  are  being  opened,  shoes,  hats  and  cheap  cloth  are  being 
made. 

Land  is  being  tilled  and  planted  with  vegetables  and  fruits.  The 
breeding  and  care  of  cattle  is  ordered,  and  reckless  animal  slaughter, 
even  for  military  purposes,  is  absolutely  prohibited.  Small  gunpowder 
factories  are  to  be  established  in  suitable  places.  The  home-made 
manufacture  of  farming  implements  is  especially  encouraged.  The  ne- 
cessities of  families  whose  main  supports  are  fighting  in  the  field  must 
be  attended  to  without  delay.  Inability  to  meet  any  such  requirements 
must  be  reported  to  headquarters,  and  remedied  at  once. 

Free  public  schools,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Cuba,  are 
being  organized  throughout  the  entire  Oriente.  In  addition  to  the  ordi- 
nary teachers,  matrons  are  carefully  selected  to  look  after  the  physcial 
wants  of  the  younger  children.  Education,  even  among  the  mature 
peasantry,  is  to  be  encouraged  in  every  way.  Incentives  to  thrift  are 
being  offered,  but  for  the  improvident  and  idle  serious  penalties  are  in 
store.  All  irregularities  in  the  mails  are  to  be  reported  and  remedied, 
as  this  is  considered  one  or  the  most  important  branches  of  the  civil 
service.     Article  19  of  Cespedes'  Manifesto  reads: 

"  On  the  first  Sunday  of  each  month  the  Prefect  will  see  that  all  citi- 
zens of  his  district  will  assemble  at  some  church,  or  suitable  place  se- 
lected by  him  for  the  purpose,  where  will  be  read  to  them  the  laws  and 
decrees  emanating  from  the  government  of  the  republic,  together  with 
any  matters  of  national  interest,  so  that  the  people  may  become  familiar 
with  the  wishes  of  the  government  and  the  laws  which  they  are  expected 
to  obey." 

In  a  letter  from  Cespedes,  he  says  the  people  seem  to 
"acquiesce,  and  to  obey  with  pleasure  and  pride  all 
laws  decreed  by  the  revolutionary  government,  and  that 


582  THE  STORY  OF  CUBA. 

among-  the  peasantry  there  seems  to  be  a  very  prevalent 
opinion  that  Spanish  rule  on  the  Island  is  only  a  politi- 
cal nightmare,  to  be  as  soon  as  possible  forgotten."  It 
is  gratifying  to  close  with  this  word  of  hope. 

The  yellow  fever  is  reported  here  and  there  on  the 
Island,  and  to  complete  the  list  of  horrors,  the  small- 
pox is  spreading,  and  there  is  no  affliction  lacking  in  the 
sum  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  Cuban  people. 

Congress  will,  it  is  believed,  adjourn  within  a  month, 
and  the  presidential  campaign  will  be  wide  open,  and 
probably  more  will  be  promised  than  performed  in  re- 
gard to  foreign  affairs.  The  real  mission  of  General 
Lee  to  Cuba,  in  addition  to  the  official  duty  of  his  of- 
fice, has  not  been  made  known  with  precision,  and  the 
sense  of  doubt  stimulates  conjecture. 

The  passionate  distrust  of  the  United  States  by  Spain 
is  not  at  this  time  indulged  as  freely  as  when  the 
irritation  about  the  speeches  and  votes  of  Congress  had 
reached  its  highest  temperature,  but  that  there  may  be 
something  more  grave  not  far  off  is  a  prevalent  opin- 
ion. Evidently,  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  a 
deep  impression  that  they  have  a  responsibility  for  what 
is  going  on  in  Cuba,  that  they  have  not  succeeded  in 
giving  adequate  expression. 

Events  within  recent  years  have  caused  our  people 
to  be  more  concerned  than  in  former  times  about  their 
relations  with  other  peoples,  and  take  into  considera- 
tion their  duties  as  sovereigns  of  the  predominant  power 
of  the  American  hemisphere.  The  incidents  that  have 
marked  the  change  began  with  the  Samoan  Conference 
at  Berlin  and  Pan-Anglican  Congress  at  Washington, 
in  which  was  proposed  the  confederation  of  the  Ameri- 
can republics,  stimulated  by  the  agitation  touching  the 


HER   STRUGGLES  FOR  LIBERTY.  5^3 

annexation  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  excited  by  the  Ven- 
ezuelan boundary  controversy  ;  and  it  has  enlightened 
public  sentiment  to  deal  with  the  crisis  in  Cuba. 

We  have  for  the  land  of  our  inheritance  a  vast  zone 
across  the  continent  fronting-  upon  the  two  greater 
oceans  of  the  globe,  and  we  have  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  for  boundaries  and  the  Mississippi 
River  all  our  own. 

The  ocean  steamers  and  trans-continental  railroads, 
and  the  telegraphs  by  land  and  sea,  have  made  of  the 
earth  a  neighborhood  of  nations,  and  we  must  assume 
our  obligations  as  a  great  power.  This  does  not  sig- 
nify that  we  are  to  rush  into  entangling  alliances  or 
enter  freshly  into  unprofitable  disputes  or  become  excit- 
able in  the  interpretration  of  international  law  ;  but  the 
fact  is  upon  us,  we  cannot  remain  in  rural  retirement  ; 
we  70,000,000  of  people  have  a  part  to  play  in  the 
drama  of  the  advancing  ages,  and  the  real  question 
before  Congress  and  the  country  is  not  so  much  the 
recognition  of  the  belligerency  or  the  independence  of 
the  insurgents  in  Cuba,  as  we  should  recognize  our- 
selves. It  is  the  necessity  for  self-understanding  that 
is  first  before  us,  and  then  self  assertion  with  the  dig- 
nity becoming  our  power.  /--I^^^^i^i^^^^ 

(university 


14  DAY  USE 

RBTURN  TO  DBSK  FKOM  WHICH  BOKROWED 

LOAN  DEPTi 


LD  2lA-40Tn-ll,'63 
(E1602810)476B 


General  Library     . 
University  of  Calif  orma 

Berkeley 


Q  sol's ' 
.  Hi. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


